BLO dies in UP's Hathras, family blames excessive work pressure

Hathras, Dec 2 A Booth Level Officer (BLO) working under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise died suddenly in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh, on Tuesday, with his family alleging that excessive work pressure drove him into depression. The incident has heightened concerns about the workload and mental strain faced by officials involved in the exercise.

The deceased, identified as Kamalkant Sharma, was a government schoolteacher and resident of Brahmanpuri in Sikandra Rao. According to family members, Sharma collapsed outside his home on Tuesday morning while leaving for work related to the SIR process. His relatives immediately rushed him to Aligarh for medical treatment, but he died on the way.

His wife, Neelam Sharma, claimed that her husband had been under extreme stress for several weeks due to the workload assigned to him.

“He was normal otherwise, but he repeatedly said he was under pressure to complete the SIR work. I tried telling him not to take stress, but the workload kept increasing. This morning, he was again leaving for SIR duties when he suddenly collapsed.”

Following the news of his death, District Magistrate (DM) Atul Vats and the Superintendent of Police reached the family's house to gather details. The body was later taken into custody and sent for post-mortem examination.

DM Atul Vats said the administration would provide financial and institutional support to the bereaved family.

“We received information around 11 a.m. that the BLO was taken to a hospital and passed away on the way. The body is now undergoing examination. As immediate support, the district administration will donate one day’s salary to the family, and his children’s education will be taken care of by the administration. We will also try to provide his wife a contractual job, as she is qualified up to the intermediate level,” Vats said.

The incident has created shock within the teaching community and administrative circles, with several teachers expressing concern over the intense workload created by the SIR process.

This is the second reported death of a BLO in Uttar Pradesh within two days under similar circumstances.

On December 1, a 46-year-old teacher assigned as a BLO in Moradabad was found dead at home after allegedly recording a final message for his family. In the video, Sarvesh Kumar said he was unable to handle the pressure of completing the SIR voter list duties and asked his family to forgive him. Kumar, who leaves behind four daughters, had been assigned BLO duties for the first time in October.

As reports of stress-related deaths among BLOs rise, opposition parties have demanded immediate review and discussion of the SIR process in Parliament.

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