Booth level officers (BLOs) carry out house-to-house verification in Siliguri as part of the SIR of electoral rolls in West Bengal: A platform of BLOs in the state announced a rally from College Square to the CEO’s office on Monday, claiming they were subjected to "inhuman stress" and that the poll panel had not taken steps to ease their workload despite repeated pleas. File photo
TMC accuses EC of overburdening BLOs; platform to hold rally in Kolkata on Monday
TMC leaders allege booth level officer in South 24 Parganas now fell ill due to 'inhuman' workload during SIR, following another BLO's death
Kolkata, Nov 23 (PTI) A booth level officer (BLO) in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district was admitted to hospital on Sunday amidst allegations of extreme work-related stress during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders claimed.
The family of Kamal Naskar said he was under severe mental and physical stress, staying up until the early hours to upload data digitally.
However, a senior police officer said they had not received any report about his hospitalisation.
Naskar’s brother, who is a headmaster and also a BLO at Joynagar, said Kamal got the forms on November 13 and distributed them.
"Kamal had been collecting the forms from noon to late evening hours and uploading the details digitally till 3 am. He has to wrap it up by November 26 and has been under extreme stress," his brother added.
The TMC alleged that Naskar fell ill due to the workload.
An official from the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) department, however, said, "There was no report about anyone falling sick due to work stress." Meanwhile, a platform of BLOs in the state on Sunday announced a rally from College Square to the CEO’s office on Monday, claiming they were subjected to "inhuman stress" and that the poll panel had not taken steps to ease their workload despite repeated pleas.
The BLO Adhikar Raksha Committee consists of school teachers, college teachers, and state government employees, and demanded that the SIR exercise cannot continue in the current manner.
Trinamool Congress leader Kalyan Banerjee accused the EC of imposing "inhuman work pressure" on BLOs claiming it has led to deaths, with "5-6 officers critically ill".
He claimed that 14 deaths had occurred during duty, along with three attempted suicides, and expressed concern that the numbers could rise in the next seven days.
Banerjee also accused BJP leaders of exerting pressure on the EC and held Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari responsible for the deaths, demanding that criminal proceedings be initiated against him.
On Saturday, a BLO in Nadia district was found hanging at her home.
A purported suicide note was found on the side of the body of the BLO Rinku Tarafdar, who held the EC responsible for pushing her to an impossible situation saying though she had completed 95 per cent of the offline work, she was unable to upload the data online.
Following her death, Chief Minister Banerjee posted on X, "How many more lives will be lost? How many more need to die for this SIR? How many more bodies shall we see for this process? This has become truly alarming now!!" Senior BJP leader Rahul Sinha rubbished Banerjee's claims.
"If the TMC leaders are brave enough, they should demand a CBI probe into the death of the BLO. I can challenge that the suicide note is fake," he said about the row over Tarafdar's death. PTI