The East Burdwan district magistrate on Monday sought a detailed report from the electoral registration officer of the Manteswar Assembly constituency on the November 8 death of booth-level officer (BLO) Namita Hansda, who allegedly died of a cerebral attack allegedly because of tremendous workload during the enumeration process of the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

Hansda, in her 50s, suddenly fell unwell while distributing enumeration forms on Saturday evening and subsequently died after being admitted to the Kalna subdivisional hospital the same night.

“I have already sought a detailed report from the ERO concerned regarding the BLO’s death. It was an unfortunate incident. We are supportive of all BLOs and assist them in conducting the enumeration process smoothly,” said Ayesha Rani, the East Burdwan district magistrate.

Namita Hansda, the BLO from East Burdwan’s Kalna, who died on Saturday

The death has sparked controversy with BLO associations alleging enormous workload beyond stipulated duties of government employees, leading to stress and health hazards.

A senior official said the state government would certainly probe the matter to determine if the allegation of work overload was genuine in the case of the BLO’s death.

Hansda, an anganwadi worker, was also a BLO posted at booth 278 in Chak Balarampur gram panchayat under the Manteswar Assembly constituency and Memari II development block.

Kuntal Kumar Mondal, the joint block development officer of Memari II, on Monday visited the BLO’s house and spoke with villagers and her husband, Madhab Hansda.

Madhab alleged his wife was under tremendous pressure from the local block development office. In that particular booth, there were over 1,200 voters while BLO Hansda had distributed only 700 forms.

Her death became a matter of serious concern for other BLOs working on the ground to complete the enumeration process that began on November 4 with a month-long deadline.

On Monday, the BLOs of Memari II submitted a deputation to the district election officer through the local block development officer, Soumyajit Basu, claiming the death was not a mere personal tragedy but an example of tremendous, unscientific workload and administrative mismanagement.

They demanded compensation of ₹20–30 lakh for the family and the formation of a BLO welfare fund. The BLOs also demanded the introduction of election duty insurance for all involved in poll-related jobs.

“We demand an impartial administrative probe into the death of the BLO Namita Hansda and action against the authorities responsible for her sudden death. We also seek a proper management system to address the work environment and stress faced by those working on the ground for election-related duties,” the BLOs’ letter stated.

Votekarmi of BLO Aikya Mancha — a platform of BLOs and government employees involved in election-related work — has also written to Bengal chief electoral officer Manoj Agarwal, demanding ₹50 lakh compensation for Hansda’s family along with a government job.

“As the BLO died while performing her duty, the Election Commission should ask the government to provide proper compensation of ₹50 lakh along with a government job to Hansda’s family. The death was the result of workload, and we will continue our fight for the demands and welfare of BLOs across the state,” said Swapan Mandal, the general secretary of the outfit.

There are roughly 81,000 booths in the state, with one BLO assigned to each, all working to complete the enumeration process by the December 4 deadline.