The ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) drive of voter lists is turning out to be a stressful and intensely risky drive for booth level officers (BLO) in Madhya Pradesh, as at least seven BLOs have died during duty in the past week, and almost an equal number are admitted in hospitals after suffering heart attacks and brain haemorrhages.
A BLO, Veena Mishra (55) who was an Aanganwadi worker, died after suffering a heart attack while carrying out the SIR work on Tuesday evening in the Rewa district of the state.
Another BLO, Anita Nageshwar (50) who was also an Aanganwadi worker, died on Tuesday at a hospital in Nagpur, while she was undergoing treatment after suffering a heart attack on duty. She was assigned the SIR work at Botta village in the Balaghat district of the state.
On Monday evening, BLO Maniram Napit (54) who was a government teacher, died of a heart attack in the Shahdol district. He was getting forms filled from voters in Pateria village. During this time, he received a call from some senior officer.
Immediately after hanging up the phone, his health suddenly deteriorated. He was rushed to a hospital, but succumbed before reaching there.
On the night of November 20, a BLO died of a heart attack in Mandideep in the Raisen district near Bhopal. The BLO, Ramakant Pandey was attending an online meeting. His health deteriorated 10 minutes after the meeting ended, and he collapsed in the washroom.
Family members took him to Noble Hospital and AIIMS Bhopal, but doctors declared him dead. Ramakant Pandey was a teacher at the Ward 17 Tilakhedi Primary School and was performing BLO duty.
A day before in the Damoh district, BLO Sitaram Gond was admitted to the district hospital after his health deteriorated. From there, he was referred to Jabalpur. He died during treatment.
In another case, BLO Bhuvan Singh Chauhan of Jhabua district, died of a heart attack. Bhuvan Singh, who was a teacher by profession, was working as a BLO in SIR. On November 18, the District Election Officer suspended him for negligence in work.
According to the post-mortem report, Bhuvan Singh died of cardiac arrest (heart attack). The family alleges that he lost his life due to the stress of suspension.
Three days ago, assistant teacher Sujan Singh Raghuvanshi, who was returning after conducting the SIR survey in Pipariya of Narmadapuram district, died after being hit by a train.
The accident occurred while crossing the railway track, which severely injured both his legs. He was taken to Bansal Hospital in Bhopal in critical condition, where he died during treatment. He was posted at Girls School Pipariya.
Besides these untimely deaths, several BLOs are currently admitted in various hospitals across the state with serious issues like heart attacks and brain haemorrhages.
BLO Kirti Kaushal, who was deployed at polling station number 45 of the South-West Assembly in Bhopal, suffered a heart attack on Tuesday while on duty. She was admitted to the hospital.
Similarly, BLO Mohammad Laique had a heart attack during duty. He was also admitted to the hospital.
Another BLO, Bihari Lal Ahakey, a teacher in a government primary school in Rewa district, also suffered a heart attack on Tuesday while conducting SIR work. He was rushed to a hospital for treatment, but doctors referred him to AIIMS Bhopal, as his condition was serious.
The same day, BLO Ravindra Shakya, also a government teacher, suffered a heart attack on duty in the Bhind district. He was admitted in a serious condition to the district hospital.
On Monday, BLO Vijay Pandey suffered a brain haemorrhage during the SIR process in Rewa district. He was immediately admitted to the hospital. Pandey is posted as an assistant teacher in Pushparaj Nagar.
Family members of most of the deceased and unwell BLOs have alleged that they had been engaged in the SIR survey for several days. During this time, despite their health deteriorated, the nodal officers continued to pressurise them to complete the survey before the time limit.
Family members say that the responsible officers were not only ignoring the illness but also putting mental pressure in the name of deadlines.
Reacting to the incidents, Umashankar Tiwari, State General Secretary of MP Class III Employees’ Union, charged that many BLOs are under stress trying to complete the target, and due to this, someone became a victim of an accident, while someone had a heart attack.
Tiwari said he has written a letter to the Election Commission of India (ECI) stating that during this important electoral work, some employees of Madhya Pradesh have died, and some are seriously ill.
He pointed out that this is election-related work, and therefore, as per the order dated April 10, 2019, the family should be given Rs 15 lakh in case of death, and medical treatment should be arranged for injured or sick employees.
“The kin of the BLOs who have died so far should be given Rs 15 lakh soon”, Tiwari demanded.
The SIR work has been ongoing in Madhya Pradesh’s 230 assembly constituencies since November 4.
There are 5,00,74,500 voters, and 65, 014 polling booths in the state.