Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday intensified her demand for a pause on the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bengal, projecting the alleged suicide of a booth-level officer in Jalpaiguri as proof of the “unbearable pressure” on field workers that she said had caused 28 deaths so far.
Shanti Muni Ekka, 48, allegedly died by suicide in Jalpaiguri’s Malbazar on Wednesday as she was unable to cope with the SIR pressure and the persistent language barriers she had to encounter.
Sources said Shanti Muni, an ICDS worker assigned to booth 20/101 of the Rungamuttee tea estate in Malbazar block, was found hanging from a bamboo pole tied to two trees in front of her home in the neighbouring New Glanco tea estate. Her husband Suku Ekka said she used to regularly wake up at 4.30am, pray and then go to the kitchen.
“Today, she did not go to the kitchen. Instead, we found her hanging. She was under tremendous mental stress as the SIR forms were printed in Bengali, which she could not read,” said Suku.
Suku added: “She was fluent in Hindi and was struggling daily to understand and fill out the forms correctly.” The tribal couple speak Sadri.
Suku said his wife had even gone to the BDO’s office a few days ago to tender her resignation, but it was not accepted.
“She was struggling with prolonged pressure and her inability to manage the workload. But we never thought that she would take such a step,” their son, D’Souza Ekka, said.
Relatives and neighbours at the residence of Shanti Muni Ekka, the BLO, on the New Glanco tea estate in the Malbazar subdivision of Jalpaiguri on Wednesday. Picture by Biplab Basak
As the news spread, locals rushed to console the family. Bulu Chik Baraik, junior minister for backward classes welfare, who is also from Malbazar, reached the garden.
“Nobody should feel forced into taking such a drastic step because of administrative workload. The family has indicated she could not manage the mental stress. While party workers could assist her, the logging had to be done personally,” said the minister.
Mamata tore into the Election Commission over the death.
“Deeply shocked and saddened. Today again, we lost a Booth Level Officer in Mal, Jalpaiguri — Smt Shanti Muni Ekka, a tribal lady, an anganwadi worker who took her own life under the unbearable pressure of the ongoing SIR work. 28 people have already lost their lives since SIR began — some due to fear and uncertainty, others due to stress and overload,” the chief minister posted on X.
“Such precious lives are being lost because of the unplanned, relentless workload imposed by the so-called Election Commission of India. A process that earlier took 3 years is now being forced into 2 months on the eve of elections to please political masters, putting inhuman pressure on BLOs,”she added. “I urge the ECI to act with conscience and immediately halt this unplanned drive before more lives are lost.”
The BJP defended the SIR and claimed that the death had nothing to do with it.
“Completely baseless. The SIR is going on in many other states and Union Territories, and no incident of suicide has been reported so far. In Bengal, Trinamool is intimidated by the exercise and is coming up with theories of suicide and panic,” leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari told a news conference here.
The alleged suicide by a BLO in Kerala due to SIR-triggered stress has caused an upheaval in the state.
Shama Parveen, the district magistrate of Jalpaiguri, said they were checking the enumeration forms submitted by the deceased BLO.
“We have also informed the office of the chief electoral officer about the language issue,” she said.