The growing strain of prolonged working hours and anxiety over digital tasks is increasingly taking a toll on booth-level officers (BLOs) across Bengal.
Several BLOs are falling ill, with at least six admitted to hospital on Saturday and Sunday.
The surge in such incidents has prompted the Trinamool Congress to accuse the Election Commission of imposing an “inhuman and unexplained hurriedness” in the ongoing SIR exercise, which the party said was not only unnecessary but was also endangering lives.
In Krishnanagar town, BLO Rinku Tarafdar committed suicide on Saturday, allegedly overwhelmed by what she had described as “inhuman” workload and the fear of punitive action for failing to meet deadlines for online data uploads.
Her death was followed on Sunday by a spate of medical emergencies involving BLOs statewide, deepening concerns about the pressure triggered by the SIR digitisation drive.
In Habra block, Suman Das, a primary school teacher from Machlandpur in Gobardanga, collapsed at home on Sunday afternoon just as a resident arrived to submit an enumeration form. Das was rushed to Habra Hospital. His family said he had been working “almost without sleep” and claimed he slipped into “mental depression” due to relentless workload.
In Katwa, BLO Sukhdev Das of booth 147 in ward 11 was admitted to Katwa Subdivisional Hospital after falling ill in a similar manner on Sunday.
Dr Somnath Mukherjee of Katwa Hospital, who is treating him, said: “It appeared to be a panic attack due to excessive mental stress”.
Sukhdev’s wife, Usha Devi, also a primary school teacher, said: “My husband has been working inhumanly for two weeks. He stayed up all night doing SIR online work until four in the morning, slept for a while, then got up for more work. Today (Sunday) he had breakfast at eight and was preparing to leave when he said he felt chest pain. At the hospital his blood pressure was 195/110, and he has never had any such problem.”
Speaking from the hospital bed, Sukhdev said: “Every day, new targets are being set. Even after working outdoors for eight or nine hours, I have to digitise around 150 forms every night. That takes hours. Is it possible to take such pressure? This has been going on for long. I am not getting any rest. Where do I complain? It is a helpless situation.”
Katwa subdivisional magistrate Anirban Basu said he heard about the incident. ‘Arrangements have been made to admit the BLO to the hospital. He is stable now, and the supervisor of the area concerned is with him. If he faces any physical problem, someone else will be given the responsibility.”
In Baruipur, Tanushree Haldar Naiya, a teacher at Suryapur Nachan Gaja Primary School and BLO for booth 109 of ward 15 of Rajpur-Sonarpur Municipality, fainted on Saturday night while working on the SIR process and was admitted to Baruipur Subdivisional Hospital.
In Jangipur, BLO Kaushik Ghosh of booth 137 was also hospitalised on Saturday.
In Chopra of Uttar Dinajpur, Mustafa Kamal, BLO of Part 188, who has uric acid issues, fell ill late Saturday and had to be hospitalised.
In Jaynagar, South 24-Parganas, BLO Kamalpad Naskar of booth 31 collapsed during a meeting at the Panchayat office on Saturday afternoon and was taken to a
nursing home.
Jaynagar-I Block BDO Shubhdeep Das said: “An additional BLO has been deputed in his place to carry out the work.”
A district magistrate, who is the district election officer, acknowledged the mounting strain while speaking anonymously.
“We understand the burden on the BLOs, but it is a helpless situation for us too. Technical assistance is being provided wherever digitisation issues arise. Additional personnel have been arranged to handle sudden exigencies like illness. Block-level officials have been advised to deal patiently with BLOs so that their stress is not worsened by anyone’s misbehaviour.”