A 54-year-old booth-level officer died of a heart attack on Saturday night, with his family blaming pressure from the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in West Bengal.
Utpal Thakur, a para-teacher by profession, was posted at booth number 93 in Nadapara under Chandrapara Gram Panchayat in Chanchal-II block.
Election Commission sources said he was handling responsibilities linked to the voter list revision. He suffered a heart attack around 10:30 pm and later died, a family member said.
The family said the workload had been rising in recent weeks. After the voter list was published on February 28, people whose names were marked under the “under adjudication” category continued to approach him with queries.
"He was under immense pressure during the ongoing SIR process. Even after the voter list was published on February 28, those who had been placed in the 'under adjudication' category often came to him and asked whether their names would appear on the supplementary list,” a family member said.
About 110 voters in his booth were placed in the “under adjudication” category in the post-SIR electoral roll, adding to his workload. Family members said this led to repeated visits and constant questions.
"The pressure of preparing the supplementary electoral roll caused his heart attack," another family member alleged, adding that no police complaint was filed.
His wife spoke about the strain on the family. “My husband worked tirelessly in the SIR exercise, but could not handle work-related stress and suffered a heart attack. I don't know how to manage the family expenses. We hope that the government will support my daughters and me."
Locals said several voters whose names were deleted or kept under adjudication had raised concerns about document uploads and verification. Some alleged gaps in the process.
“People don’t understand the EC's procedures. They approached the BLO directly and asked whether their documents were uploaded properly or not. Deleted voters often sought the reasons for omission,” said a neighbour of Thakur's family.
The SIR exercise has led to large-scale changes in the electoral rolls. Official data released on February 28 showed 63.66 lakh names, about 8.3 per cent of the electorate, have been removed since November last year.
The voter base has dropped from around 7.66 crore to a little over 7.04 crore. Over 60.06 lakh electors have been placed under the “under adjudication” category, with their eligibility to be decided after scrutiny.
The supplementary voter lists are expected to be published on Monday.