The suicide of a booth-level officer in Kannur, allegedly brought on by work pressure related to the special intensive revision (SIR) of rolls, has prompted 35,000 BLOs across Kerala to boycott work on Monday.

Aneesh George, a last-grade attender at a government school in Kannur, was found hanging at his home on Sunday. His relatives said he was under “tremendous work pressure” and feared that he would not be able to complete the distribution of enumeration forms on time.

A local ward member in Kannur said Aneesh had gone to the church on Sunday morning along with his family. Halfway through the mass, he told his wife that he had pending work to complete. He came back home and hung himself.

"Aneesh was not familiar with the neighbourhood. He found it difficult to distribute the enumeration forms and complete their scrutiny within the prescribed deadline. He had gone to sleep at 2am on Sunday and had been working until the wee hours almost every day," Anish’s father, George, said.

The SIR has forced the BLOs to work overtime and under punishing deadlines.

“We have been inundated with targets, which are humanly impossible to achieve. Under the aegis of the Action Council of State Government Employees and Teachers and Teachers Service Organisation Protest Committee, we have decided to boycott our work on Monday. A protest march to the chief electoral office and also to the district electoral offices will be held,” a statement issued by the office-bearers of the protest committee said.

A BLO in Thiruvananthapuram told The Telegraph that he had been distributing over 1,500 enumeration forms on an average daily against the target of 3,000.

“Several houses whose occupants work outside the state are locked. Many residents have shifted elsewhere. If we call them up, they will pressurise us to deliver the forms at their new addresses,” said the BLO, who did not wish to reveal his identity.