‘He was working till 1 am’: BLO dies of cardiac arrest in Rajasthan, family blames SIR work pressure

Garg, in his early 40s, was rushed to a hospital but could not be saved. His family members claimed that he had been working long hours daily to finish his SIR-related work. The body was sent for postmortem and subsequently handed over to the family.

Garg’s supervisor, Lokendra Kumar Kshotriya, told The Indian Express that Garg “was doing good work and had covered nearly 80% of the almost 1,100 voters he had been tasked with [reaching out to with enumeration forms]”.

“He never complained about work and had been making good progress. We were expecting that he would finish it soon,” Kshotriya said.

“We were regularly in touch, and the SDM, too, had held a meeting, just two days ago, where he (Garg) had said that he would wrap work soon,” the supervisor said.

Another BLO, who knew Garg, told The Indian Express on the condition of anonymity that Garg used to tell him that he was under pressure. “I met him just 2-3 days ago… All of us are under stress,” the BLO said.

Dholpur Principal Medical Officer Dr Samarveer Singh told The Indian Express that prima facie, Garg died of a cardiac arrest. “He had been taking medicines for diabetes. And most probably, he died of a cardiac arrest. We have sent his viscera samples to the FSL (forensic science laboratory), where the exact cause of his death will be established,” Singh said.

Amit Kumar Sharma, SHO of Nihalganj police station, said, “As per his family, his health worsened around 1 am, and he collapsed. A postmortem has been conducted.”

A government teacher, Garg was working as a BLO in Dholpur district’s booth number 158, under Dholpur Assembly constituency. He is survived by his wife and two children, among other family members.

The news came even as the Election Commission of India extended the deadline for electors to submit enumeration forms in the ongoing SIR in nine states and three Union Territories from December 4 to December 11.

As per the Press Information Bureau, over 5.3 lakh BLOs, 7.64 lakh Booth Level Agents (BLAs), 10,448 EROs/AEROs and 321 DEOs have been pressed into action, spanning 321 districts and 1,843 Assembly Constituencies.