Another BLO dies in Bengal; family alleges pressure due to SIR work

Kolkata, Jan 3 Another Booth Level Officer (BLO) died on Saturday, with his family alleging that pressure related to the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) work led to his deteriorating health. The incident took place in Cooch Behar district of north Bengal.

The BLO was admitted to a hospital on Friday night after experiencing chest pain and died while undergoing treatment. His family alleged that he had fallen ill due to pressure from SIR-related duties and was also suffering from depression.

According to local sources, the deceased BLO was identified as Ashish Dhar, a resident of Ichhamari village in Baneshwar area under Cooch Behar-II block. He was responsible for Booth No. 103 in the area.

Family members said that Ashish had been under stress for several days due to SIR work. On Friday, when he complained of chest pain, he was rushed to the hospital by his family members.

He was undergoing treatment there but died while still admitted to the hospital.

Ashish was an assistant teacher at Purba Gopalpur Fourth Plan Primary School. Since the commencement of the SIR exercise, he had been managing both his teaching duties and his responsibilities as a BLO, which, according to his family, caused severe stress and depression.

On Saturday, Ashish was scheduled to conduct hearings for 39 people at his booth. Family members said he was anxious about the workload and had repeatedly expressed concern over how he would complete the assigned tasks.

Ashish’s brother, Dilip Dhar, told local reporters, “Last night, he returned home from work and had dinner. Then he received a phone call. We understood that the conversation was about the hearing process. After hanging up, he told us he was feeling unwell. He had chest pain and was drenched in sweat. We immediately took him to the hospital. However, he died while receiving treatment there.”

After the news of Ashish’s death, Trinamool Congress district president Abhijit De Bhowmik visited the bereaved family and alleged that Ashish was unable to cope with the pressure of the SIR work.

Abhijit said, “The Election Commission, under the instructions of the central government, is putting inhuman pressure on these people to punish the Bengalis.”

However, district BJP president Abhijit Barman rejected the allegation, saying, “The first phase of the SIR work is complete. Now the hearings are going on. The BLOs are not conducting the hearings. I don’t think he should have been under any pressure at this stage.”

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