BLO deaths during SIR: Mounting toll as staff cite extreme pressure

The death of 28-year-old lekhpal (rural accountant) Sudhir Kumar in Uttar Pradesh’s Fatehpur district has once again focused national attention on the growing number of Booth-Level Officers (BLOs) and field-level government staff dying during the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

The SIR exercise, which requires door-to-door verification, disposal of objections, and daily reporting through digital apps, has been marred by multiple fatalities in recent months, with employees repeatedly citing workload, harassment by superiors, and denial of leave.

Sudhir, engaged in supervisory duties for the Jahanabad Assembly segment, died by suicide on Tuesday — a day before his wedding. His body was found hanging in his room, triggering protests by the UP Lekhpal Association, which accused officials of “excessive work pressure” and intimidation.

His family alleges that a revenue inspector, Shivram, arrived at their home at dawn, berated him for missing duty due to pre-wedding rituals, and threatened him with suspension. An FIR has been lodged for abetment to suicide, though only against the revenue inspector and an unidentified person, prompting the association to describe it as “partial action”.

Sudhir’s sister Amrita Singh said the officer even suggested outsourcing election duties “to a private person for money”, which further distressed him. His fiancée Kajal said he had been unusually withdrawn, repeatedly saying the “work pressure was too much”, while her father alleged that Sudhir, a Dalit employee, was subjected to disproportionate pressure.

A pattern across India

Sudhir’s death is not an isolated case. Over the past six months, at least a dozen SIR-linked deaths have been reported across the country, pointing to systemic stress within the electoral field machinery.

In addition to confirmed deaths, there have been multiple reports of BLOs collapsing, suffering fatal health events, or otherwise dying under circumstances linked (by family, colleagues or media) to the pressures of SIR duties. According to recent coverage, in just “three weeks” 16 BLOs had died nationwide.

The fatalities and serious incidents are tightly clustered around November — many reported in the last two–three weeks alone. The sudden spike coincides with an accelerated push by the ECI to complete the SIR.

Incidents span northern (Uttar Pradesh), western (Gujarat, Rajasthan), central (Madhya Pradesh), southern (Kerala) and eastern (West Bengal) India — suggesting that the problem is not region-specific but systemic across states conducting SIR.

Deaths include suicides linked to stress or pressure (UP, West Bengal), heart attacks or sudden collapses (Gujarat, Rajasthan, MP), and at least one fatal stroke (WB). This variety underlines that the toll is not due solely to chronic illness or pre-existing conditions, but may be exacerbated by excessive workload, mental stress, and perhaps lack of support.

Several victims are not full-time election staff, but school-teachers or clerical staff pulled in as BLOs — often expected to juggle regular jobs plus SIR duties, which increases fatigue and burnout risk.

The clustering of incidents around a short time window and across multiple states strongly suggests that the increased workload and compressed deadlines under SIR may be creating dangerous working conditions for BLOs and other field-staff.

Multiple cases involve claims of “impossible targets” — e.g. forcing officers to finish hundreds of forms per day, digital uploads late into night, or “no weekly off” policies.

Though some states claim to pre-emptively map voters or provide training, many BLOs are still expected to do house-to-house verification, data entry, and follow-up without additional manpower. Suicide cases with video messages and notes point to severe mental strain and possibly a sense of helplessness among staff.

If unaddressed, this pattern risks turning SIR into a public-health and human-rights crisis — undermining not just the welfare of workers but the credibility of the electoral roll revision itself.

Unions in at least six states have made formal representations alleging that SIR duties have become “inhuman”. Facing sustained criticism, the ECI has issued several instructions to mitigate the burden on BLOs:

• Limiting daily hours: The ECI directed state administrations not to assign SIR duties beyond reasonable working hours, especially for teachers and women staff. However, field reports suggest these limits are routinely breached.

• Mandatory weekly off: States were reminded that BLOs must receive at least one weekly rest day, but several districts continue to require seven-day reporting during peak verification phases.

• Helplines and grievance redressal: The ECI asked chief electoral officers (CEOs) to establish district-level helplines for BLO complaints. Staff unions say helplines exist “only on paper” and rarely result in disciplinary action.

• Transport and safety guidelines: In the wake of road-accident-related deaths, the ECI reiterated that field visits should be planned “within walking distance or with assured transport”. Yet most BLOs still use personal vehicles or walk long distances.

• Stress-monitoring reports: A circular issued in October required AROs to submit weekly reports on workload distribution and staff well-being. BLO associations say these reports are “self-certifying exercises” with little oversight.

While the Commission has publicly emphasised that BLO welfare is critical to ensuring credible electoral rolls, state-level implementation remains patchy. Union representatives argue that the ECI’s monitoring mechanisms rely heavily on the same officers who impose excessive targets and penalties, leaving BLOs with little recourse.

In Fatehpur, the UP Lekhpal Association continues its protest, insisting that responsibility in Sudhir Kumar’s case extends beyond the revenue inspector to higher officials who allegedly issued the threats and imposed the workload.

With PTI inputs