A booth-level officer (BLO) engaged by the Election Commission for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has tragically died in West Bengal’s Purba Bardhaman district.
The officer, identified as Namita Hansda (50), an ICDS worker assigned as the BLO for booth No. 278 in Memari’s Chak Balarampur area, died after suffering a brain stroke late Saturday night. She was declared brought dead at Kalna Subdivisional Hospital.
😥 Family and Officials Allege Stress
Namita Hansda’s death has ignited a debate over the workload and stress faced by personnel during election duty:
- Family’s Claim: Her husband, Madhab Hansda, claimed on Sunday that her death was indirectly linked to extreme mental stress caused by work pressure. He noted that Namita was “worried a lot about meeting the target of completing the SIR exercise over a stipulated time.”
- District Official’s Statement: District officials confirmed that she collapsed at her home in Memari late Saturday night due to “severe stress because of the mounting workload.”
❌ No Direct Link Established
However, an unnamed district official issued a clarification, stating that Namita Hansda’s death was ultimately due to medical reasons and that no direct link could be established with her SIR duty.
💰 Demand for Compensation
Despite the official clarification, the incident drew immediate attention from workers’ representatives. Swapan Mondal, general secretary of the ‘Vote Kormi and BLO Aikya Manch’ (Vote worker and BLO unity group), strongly intervened.
Mondal shot off a letter to the CEO Manoj Agarwal demanding ₹50 lakh as compensation for Namita Hansda’s family on humanitarian grounds.
The forum strongly asserted that the death was a direct consequence of job pressure:
“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 stated.