4 deaths in a week: 2 woman assistant BLOs die of ‘heart attack’ in Gujarat amid concerns on ‘SIR work pressure’

Tapi District Collector Vipin Garg told The Indian Express, “She (Patel) was working as Assistant BLO and returned to her home on Thursday when she complained of chest pain. She was rushed to a hospital in Bardoli where doctors declared her dead.”
In another incident, a 50-year-old woman assistant BLO collapsed on duty at a school in Kadak Bazaar on Saturday and was declared dead at SSG hospital in Vadodara.

The deceased has been identified as Usha Solanki, a clerical staff of the Women’s Industrial Training Institute and Skill Certification Center in Gorwa in Vadodara.

Solanki’s husband Indrasinh said she was a heart patient and had requested to be excused from BLO duty. However, the Vadodara District Collector said that no formal request was made by the assistant BLO or her family to excuse her from the exercise.

With the two cases, the number of deaths of BLOs in Gujarat this week rose to four. A BLO from Kheda reportedly died of heart attack on Thursday and another BLO allegedly died by suicide in Gir Somnath district on Friday.

‘Additional pressure’

Sources close to Kalpanaben Patel’s family said that many of the teachers were facing problems due to BLO assignments that caused them stress, like “late hours at work” and “long distances from their homes”.

Kalpanaben Patel is survived by her husband Shantilal Patel, a retired government school teacher, and two children. Patel, hailing from Vansda taluka in Navsari district, had been working as the principal in Beldha village school for the past few years.

Sources close to the family said that she had “no history of chest pain or high blood pressure”.

Narsinghbhai Chaudhary, the BLO to whom Patel reported, told The Indian Express that she was “doing a good job”. “She had completed 80 per cent of the work. Beldha village has been classified as a green zone (indicating positive progress). We are saddened to hear of her death,” Chaudhary said.

“There are 300 voters in Beldha village and she had to visit the houses, get the necessary documents of voters filled in the forms and later upload the details on the mobile application. She has been working as Assistant BLO for the last five to six days,” he added.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Usha Solanki’s husband Indrasinh said, “She was a heart patient and had requested that she be excused from the BLO duty. Yet, she was handed out the duty and had been working in the field for over a week… She was waiting for her supervisor to arrive when she collapsed. The doctors have said that she suffered a heart attack…”

Indrasinh added that his wife, apart from working in ITI and handling the duty as Assistant BLO, was doing daily chores at home, leading to added stress. “All women work at home too… There was obviously stress due to added work,” he said.

Vadodara District Collector Anil Dhameliya said: “We checked with the institute as well as with the local officials. She had not made any official request to be excused (from BLO duty)… We have learnt now that she was suffering from a heart ailment and had episodes of fainting in her institute as well.”

Dhameliya said that there is no excessive workload on the BLOs and many had also been relieved at request.

“We have been cautious about ensuring that there is no excessive workload on the BLOs and therefore, we have appointed additional staff to assist in the process… College students are also working as volunteers in the exercise,” Dhameliya said.

“Ushaben was rushed to the hospital in an auto. Unfortunately, she passed away,” the district collector added.

Dhameliya said Solanki had been on field duty for the first time on Saturday. “She was in an assisting role only and it was not full-time work. The BLOs and all volunteers have not been working for more than eight hours. Ushaben was assigned to help a Deputy Mamlatdar in digitisation for three days…they are also not required to work every day as the digitization has to be completed by December 4 and by December 9, we have to publish the first draft of the revised electoral roll.”

Dhameliya said that a BLO in Padra, who reported uneasiness during his work on Friday evening, was rushed to the hospital and has been discharged and relieved from duty.

Dhameliya said, “The BLO in Padra felt uneasiness during his work on Saturday evening. The local hospital reported a variation in his ECG scan and he was shifted to another hospital of the family’s choice. He did not suffer a heart attack. He has been discharged from the hospital and relieved from duty.”

A government official in the know, told The Indian Express on condition of anonymity, “With a large workforce of over two lakh involved in the SIR work, these deaths can be termed as natural. Linking these to SIR is not justified and logical. There are so many BLOs who have already completed the work assigned to them and have been appreciated with certificates too. Also it is not only the responsibility of BLOs but also citizens too to actively fill the forms.”

(With inputs from Ritu Sharma in Ahmedabad)