The controversy around the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Uttar Pradesh deepened on Tuesday as another booth-level officer (BLO) died allegedly due to work pressure, taking the death toll to five in less than a week.
Kamlakant Sharma (40), a resident of Brahmanpuri in Hathras district’s Sikandra Rao, collapsed at his residence while drinking tea. He was rushed for treatment but died on the way. Sharma, who served as an assistant teacher at Composite School, Navli Lalpur, was also handling BLO duties.
According to his family, Sharma had been distressed for several days due to the workload. His son Vinayak said, “He came downstairs around 7 am to have tea and suddenly fainted. He passed away while being taken to the hospital.”
Previous Deaths Linked to SIR
- On November 30, Sarvesh Kumar, a Dalit school teacher in Moradabad, died by suicide. In his note, he confessed to feeling suffocated and unable to complete the BLO work.
- On November 29, Shobharani, a BLO in Bijnor, died of cardiac arrest.
- On November 26, Sarvesh Kumar Gangwar, a BLO in Bareilly, collapsed inside his school and was declared dead.
- On November 25, Vipin Yadav, a BLO from Gonda, was found dead. His family alleged he was under extreme pressure and asked to cut names of a particular caste group.
Amid rising BLO deaths due to SIR work pressure in UP, the Election Commission extended the deadline for completing the exercise by a week. However, opposition parties argued that the extension is not enough to ease the workload and warned that the situation could worsen if immediate reforms are not introduced.
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