The Supreme Court on Thursday issued directions aimed at easing the hardships faced by Booth Level Officers (BLOs) engaged in the special intensive revision of electoral rolls across several states.

A Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi instructed state governments to deploy additional staff so that the working hours of those on SIR duty can be reduced, legal news websites reported.

The Bench said that requests for exemption from duty citing specific reasons must be considered on a case by case basis. It made clear that wherever an individual seeks exemption for personal reasons, the state must examine the request and replace the person with another worker.

The Court said BLOs who feel that certain grievances or reliefs have not been addressed may approach the court.

The directions were issued during the hearing of an application filed by political party Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam against the Election Commission (EC), which highlighted the working conditions of BLOs and pointed to instances of suicide among them.

The ruling Trinamul Congress in Bengal has ascribed nearly 40 BLO deaths to suicides so far. Uttar Pradesh has reported 10 BLO deaths in the past 12 days, including three suicides — and over 21 BLO-related deaths have been reported across Kerala as of end-November 2025.

Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, representing TVK, told the Court that they had information about between 35 and 40 BLOs who had taken their own lives in Tamil Nadu.

He said these workers included Anganwadi staff and teachers and that notices under Section 32 of the Representation of the People Act were being issued to them warning of imprisonment for not meeting deadlines.

He added that 50 FIRs had been registered against BLOs in Uttar Pradesh and cited the case of a worker who was denied leave to attend his wedding and subsequently died by suicide.

Senior advocate Maninder Singh, appearing for the EC, opposed the application and submitted that such pleas should not be entertained.

The Court noted that the application sought measures to address the difficulties faced by BLOs who, due to health issues, family circumstances or other personal reasons, were unable to perform duties assigned by the EC.

It recorded that the applicant had pointed to criminal action being taken against employees reluctant to perform their duties and observed that state governments could step in to address such hardship.

The Bench then issued directions to state governments to improve the working conditions of BLOs.

The hearing was part of a series of petitions challenging the SIR process in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Kerala.

BLOs engaged in the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Bengal have expressed mixed reactions to the Supreme Court’s directive to provide additional staff for their duties.

“What's the point of giving additional staff now, when most BLOs are almost done with all their work?” one officer told The Telegraph Online. The officer added that while the move may help those lagging behind, “the new staff will need to be registered and given basic training.”

Another BLO highlighted the growing complexity of their tasks, and said, “The level of scrutiny has increased in our work in terms of voter data, so that is complicating the situation for us. We’re not sure if all of us will get additional staff or only some of us.”

Both officials from Kolkata spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Regarding the prayer for ex gratia compensation for BLOs who died during SIR duty, the Court said that affected persons or the petitioner may file applications at a later stage.