Fourth BLO death in a month: Officer on SIR duty dies of heart attack in Rajasthan, kin allege work pressure

“I don’t know what the tehsildar said on the call, but five minutes later he suffered a heart attack,” PTI quoted Hariram’s father, Brijmohan Bairwa, as saying.

The tehsildar, however, denied all allegations saying he had only conveyed instructions received from higher authorities. No formal complaint has been filed yet, according to Lakshman Singh, Khandar Station House Officer (SHO). Bairwa, 34, was a Grade III teacher posted at Sevti Khurd Government School in Rajasthan and was deployed as BLP. Even though he was rushed to the hospital, he could not be saved, the report said.

This incident comes after three BLOs allegedly died by suicide or heart attack across the country this month.

Earlier, a government school teacher in Jaipur allegedly died by suicide on November 16, and his family claimed he was under intense pressure to finish voterlist-related work under the SIR exercise. Mukesh Jangid, 45, posted at the Government Primary School in Nahri ka Bas, allegedly jumped in front of a train near the Bindayaka railway cross, SHO Vinod Verma was quoted as saying by PTI.

The same day, Aneesh George, a 38-year-old school employee who had been working late till night while serving as a BLO for the upcoming local body polls in Kerala, was found hanging in his home in Payyanur, Kannur district. A case of unnatural death was registered by Kerala Police. Kin of George and residents of the neighbourhood claimed that the pressure of election-related responsibilities pushed him to the edge. The FIR said he had been under stress in connection with the ongoing SIR of electoral rolls.

Before that, a BLO engaged in the SIR of electoral rolls died after suffering a brain stroke in Purba Bardhaman district, West Bengal. The incident happened on November 9, and the deceased Namita Hansda’s husband, connected her death indirectly to extreme mental stress caused by work pressure.

The Election Commission ordered the SIR exercise for Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Puducherry, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Lakshadweep in October.

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