BLO dies of stroke in Bengal, family links it to SIR work pressure
Kolkata (PTI): A booth-level officer (BLO) engaged by the Election Commission for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls died after suffering a brain stroke in West Bengal's Purba Bardhaman district, her husband claimed on Sunday, attributing the death indirectly to extreme mental stress caused by work pressure.
District officials said Namita Hansda (50) collapsed at her home in Memari late Saturday night due to "severe stress because of the mounting workload."
She was taken to Kalna Subdivisional Hospital, where doctors declared her brought dead.
Madhab Hansda, her husband, said Namita, an ICDS worker assigned as the BLO for booth No. 278 in Chak Balarampur area of Memari, was "worried a lot about meeting the target of completing the SIR exercise over a stipulated time."
However, a district official clarified that her death was due to medical reasons and no direct link could be established with her SIR duty.
Swapan Mondal, general secretary of 'Vote Kormi and BLO Aikya Manch' (Vote worker and BLO unity group) shot off a letter to the CEO Manoj Agarwal demanding Rs 50 lakh as compensation to the next of kin of the family of Hansda on humanitarian ground.
"She succumbed to death following excessive pressure of the assigned job. It is the responsibility off EC to stand by her family on compassionate ground," the forum said.
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'Someone must be held accountable': HC converts civil suit on Goa nightclub tragedy into PIL
Panaji (PTI): The Bombay High Court on Monday converted a civil suit against Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub into a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) saying "someone has to be held accountable" for the tragedy in which 25 people were killed.In a stern observation, Goa bench of the High Court of Justices Sarang Kotwal and Ashish Chavan said the local panchayat had "failed to take suo motu cognisance" of the club and had taken "no action despite complaints."
The division bench directed the Goa government to file a detailed reply on the permissions granted to the nightclub.
The High Court, while fixing January 8 as the next date of hearing, pointed out that commercial operations were continuing in the structure despite it having been served a demolition order.
The original petition was filed after the December 6 tragedy by Pradeep Ghadi Amonkar and Sunil Divkar, the owners of the land on which the nightclub was operating.
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Advocate Rohit Bras de Sa, the lawyer representing the petitioner, was made amicus curiae in the matter and has been asked to file a detailed affidavit in the matter.
In their petition, Amonkar and Divkar highlighted "the alarming pattern of statutory violations that have remained inadequately addressed despite multiple complaints, inspections, show-cause notices, and even a demolition order".
They contended that these violations posed "immediate threats to public safety, ecological integrity, and the rule of law in the state of Goa."
Investigations by multiple agencies into the nightclub fire have revealed various irregularities, including lack of permissions to operate the nightclub.
The Goa police arrested five managers and staff members of the club, while co-owners Gaurav Luthra and Saurabh Luthra have been detained in Thailand after they fled the country.
