Mounting stress and pressure on officials engaged in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls have come under intense scrutiny in Gujarat, following a series of unfortunate events. One Booth Level Officer (BLO) has died, another is hospitalized, and a third has threatened suicide, raising serious concerns about the well-being of those tasked with this critical election-related duty.

The most recent incident involves Usha Solanki, a 50-year-old senior clerk at Gorwa Mahila ITI, who was assigned as a BLO assistant at Pratap School in Vadodara's Kadak Bazaar. On Saturday, Solanki collapsed while waiting for her supervisor and was rushed to a state-run hospital where she was declared dead. While an autopsy is pending, a heart attack is suspected. Solanki's husband, Indrasinh, revealed that she had chronic health complications and had repeatedly appealed against her assignment. Despite these concerns, she was assigned to SIR duty for three days.

In another incident, Zulfikar Pathan, a BLO and teacher from Padra town in Vadodara district, was rushed to a primary health center on Friday night with severe chest pain. Relatives claim he had been working extended hours and eating only one meal a day for the past two weeks. Pathan was later transferred to a private hospital and has since been discharged and relieved from his duties.

Adding to the distress, Vinu Bamaniya, a BLO from Godhra, went live on social media, threatening to end his life due to "unmanageable demands" tied to the SIR drive. He urged colleagues to boycott SIR duties, alleging he had been threatened with "dire consequences" if he failed to return 200 filled forms by Saturday.

These incidents follow the death of Arvind Vadher, a 40-year-old school teacher and BLO from Gir Somnath district, who allegedly died by suicide on Friday. Vadher left a note addressed to his wife, citing "mental stress and exhaustion" due to the SIR of electoral rolls as the reason for taking the extreme step. He stated he was feeling exhausted and mentally stressed and felt that the SIR work could not be finished. He was under severe pressure to meet the 95% target by November 23.

Earlier in the week, Rameshbhai Parmar, a 50-year-old school teacher working as a BLO in Kheda district, died of a heart attack. His family attributed his death to "excessive work pressure" linked to the ongoing SIR. Parmar's brother stated that after finishing his BLO work, he would continue doing paperwork until late at night. Parmar's daughter also confirmed that he was under pressure due to BLO-related work.

The recent deaths have triggered widespread concern and anger among BLOs and teachers' unions. The Akhil Bhartiya Rashtriya Shaikshik Mahasangh Gujarat announced a boycott of online work by teachers serving as BLOs and demanded compensation for Vadher's family. A delegation of Gujarat Rajya Prathmik Shikshak Sangh met with election officials to discuss the issues faced by teachers working as BLOs.

Opposition parties have also criticized the government, with the Congress stating that 99% of BLOs are teachers assigned to this complicated task. Concerns have been raised about the pressure to complete the SIR exercise quickly due to delayed local body elections.

In response to the growing concerns, Vadodara Collector Anil Dhameliya stated that the administration is trying to ease the workload by avoiding night work and deploying extra staff for digitization. He added that BLO concerns have been conveyed to the Election Commission to make the process more decentralized.

These incidents in Gujarat are not isolated. Similar cases of deaths and suicide attempts linked to SIR-related stress have been reported in other states, including Kerala, Rajasthan and West Bengal. These events highlight the urgent need to address the systemic issues causing excessive stress and pressure on BLOs during the electoral roll revision process.