Two BLOs in Kerala, Rajasthan die by suicide; families allege SIR-related pressure
New Delhi: Two booth-level officers (BLOs) involved in the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls have died by suicide in Kerala and Rajasthan, triggering concerns about rising field-level stress during the voter list update exercise. While families and teachers’ groups have alleged excessive work pressure, district administrations in both states have denied any link between SIR duties and the deaths, citing official data and ongoing inquiries.
In Kerala’s Kannur district, 44-year-old school office assistant and BLO Aneesh George was found dead at his home on Sunday, The Indian Express reported. His family and friends told the newspaper that George had been overwhelmed by the pressure to complete the enumeration work assigned to him under the SIR programme.
George had been allotted the 18th booth in Payyannur taluk, but according to a friend quoted by Express, he was unfamiliar with the area and struggled to distribute the required enumeration forms. Another friend told the paper that George had sought help from booth-level agents of political parties but did not receive support.
However, the Kannur district administration issued a detailed press release rejecting the claim that work pressure contributed to his death. It stated that George’s progress “was consistent with both district and constituency levels” and that “at no stage were special targets, pressures, or deadlines issued to him.”
According to the administration, of the 1,065 enumeration forms in the booth, 825 had been distributed, and although 240 were initially shown as pending, updates on November 15 revealed that only 50 remained because many had been delivered earlier but not digitally marked. As of November 16, the district had completed 87.28 percent of form distribution, slightly below the Kerala average of 91.26 percent.
The administration further stated that initial enquiries by the police and district officials found “no linkage” between SIR duties and the suicide. “The cause of the suicide remains unclear pending further investigation,” the statement said.
Mathrubhumi reported that Kerala’s Chief Electoral Officer Rathan U Kelkar noted that the revision process is typically completed within 31 days and that no earlier complaints of excessive pressure had been received.
But the panchayat president of Kankol-Alappadamba, M.V. Sunil Kumar, contradicted the official version. Speaking to The Hindu, he said George had been under “extreme pressure” and had repeatedly told superiors that he could not cope with the workload. According to him, officials insisted that the work must be completed regardless.
A similar incident was reported from Rajasthan’s Jaipur district, where 45-year-old Mukesh Jangid, a government school teacher and BLO, died on Sunday after allegedly jumping in front of a train near the Bindayaka railway crossing. Bindayaka SHO Vinod Verma confirmed the incident, though detailed findings are awaited.
According to a PTI report, Jangid’s brother Gajanand claimed to have recovered a suicide note in which Jangid wrote that he was under severe stress due to SIR duties, and that a supervisor had pressured him and threatened suspension.
The Times of India reported that Jangid, a resident of Kalwad village, had been assigned BLO responsibilities in Jaipur’s Jhotwara area.
His death has sparked unrest among teachers’ groups in the state. Rajasthan Primary and Secondary Teachers’ Association president Vipin Prakash Sharma told PTI that competition among administrative divisions to top SIR performance rankings was creating “excessive pressure” on BLOs. He said the association would submit a memorandum to the chief minister urging a halt to undue pressure, especially with half-yearly examinations approaching.
The two deaths, reported from different states within the same 24-hour period—have widened the debate over the stress faced by booth-level officers during the Election Commission’s ongoing voter list revision. While administrations in Kerala and Rajasthan insist no connection has been established, families and teachers’ groups say field officers are being burdened beyond capacity in the push to meet SIR targets.
Both cases remain under investigation.
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Odisha: Normalcy returns to violence-hit Malkangiri; internet services fully restored
Malkangiri (PTI): Normalcy returned to Odisha’s Malkangiri district on Monday, nearly a week after around 200 villages were damaged in violent clashes in a village, with the district administration fully restoring internet services, a senior official said.
Additional District Magistrate Bedabar Pradhan said internet services, suspended across the district on December 8 to curb the spread of rumours and misinformation following the clashes, were restored after the situation improved.
The suspension had been extended in phases till 12 noon on Monday.
The administration also withdrew prohibitory orders imposed under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita within a 10-km radius of MV-26 village, where arson incidents were reported on December 7 and December 8.
Though the violence was confined to two villages, tension had gripped the entire district, as the incident took the form of a clash between local tribals and Bengali settlers following the recovery of a headless body of a woman on December 4, officials said.
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The violence broke out after residents of Rakhelguda village allegedly set ablaze several houses belonging to Bengali residents, forcing hundreds to flee. The headless body of Lake Podiami (51), a woman from the Koya tribe, was recovered from the banks of the Poteru river on December 4, while her head was found six days later at a location about 15 km away.
Officials said the district administration held several rounds of discussions with representatives of the tribal and Bengali communities, following which both sides agreed to maintain peace.
Relief and rehabilitation work has since been launched at MV-26 village, with preliminary assessment pegging property damage at around Rs 3.8 crore.
A two-member ministerial team headed by Deputy Chief Minister K V Singh Deo visited the affected village, interacted with officials and locals, and submitted a report to the chief minister.
So far, 18 people have been arrested in connection with the violence, the officials said, adding that despite the withdrawal of prohibitory orders and restoration of internet services, security forces, including BSF and CRPF personnel, continue to be deployed to prevent any untoward incident.
On Sunday, Nabarangpur MP Balabhadra Majhi visited MV-26 and neighbouring Rakhelguda villages, and held discussions with members of both communities as part of efforts to rebuild confidence and restore peace.
More than two lakh Bengali-speaking Bangladeshis were rehabilitated by the Centre in Malkangiri and Nabarangpur districts in 1968, and they currently reside in 124 villages of Malkangiri.
