A 51-year-old para-teacher from Nadia deployed as a Booth Level Officer was found hanging at her residence in Krishnagar on Saturday.
The death by suicide of Rinku Tarafdar is the second such instance involving BLOs within 24 hours in two ends of the country.
On Friday morning, Arvindbhai Muljibhai Vadher, a government school teacher in Gujarat’s Kodinar district working as a BLO, was found hanging.
Vadher had left behind a suicide note in Gujarati addressed to his wife, where he cited mental stress and fatigue caused by the SIR exercise for his decision.
In the note, Vadher instructed his wife to hand over the documents related the SIR process to the school, which he had kept in his bag.
Tarafdar too left a note for her husband and two children, a son and a daughter.
The para-teacher at Swami Vivekananda Vidyamandir in Bangaljhi area of Nadia’s Chapra has reportedly claimed in her note that she would not be able to bear the pressure for any laxity in discharging the responsibility of a BLO. She was deployed as a BLO in the Bangaljhi locality.
Earlier this week a BLO in Jalpaiguri’s Malbazar from a Tribal family working with the state’s integrated child developed scheme system died by suicide. Another BLO in Burdwan’s Kalna died following a stroke induced by SIR related stress.
Arvindbhai Muljibhai Vadher. (Sourced by the Telegraph)
In far off Kerala, another BLO also a teacher too died by suicide this week unable to bear the stress.
Amidst the deaths of BLOs in several corners of the county, the Pilibhit administration in Uttar Pradesh announced a certificate of appreciation, a family trip to the Pilibhit tiger reserve for a jungle safari, a family lunch at Chuka beach and movie tickets.
In her last address to the family members, Rinku Tarafdar expressed regret for her decision, and reportedly blamed the poll authorities.
She wrote being a para teacher her workload in school was far higher than what she earned, and she was unable to bear the additional pressure of BLO.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee who has been vocal against the conduct of the SIR exercise in poll-bound Bengal had informed the chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in a letter on Thursday, “The BLOs are now operating beyond human limits.”
On Friday two such BLOs in south Calcutta had told The Telegraph Online the conditions they had to endure to fulfil their responsibilities as a BLO.
The EC assigns booth level officers from a pool of teachers, contractual teachers, corporation tax collectors, clerical staff in urban areas, anganwadi workers, patwari, panchayat secretary, village level workers, electricity bill readers, postmen, auxiliary nurses and mid-wives and mid-day meal workers.
The Primary Teacher Federation of Gujarat has demanded Rs. 1 crore as compensation for the deceased’s kin, and clear guidelines for BLOs.
