In a tragic incident highlighting the immense pressure on election duty officials, a headmaster serving as an assistant booth-level officer (BLO) died of a heart attack in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal district on Monday. This marks the eighth death of an official on Special Intensive Revision (SIR) duty in the state within just ten days.
Mounting Pressure Claims Another Life
The deceased, Arvind Kumar (40), a resident of Chaukuuni village in the Nakhasa police station area, was the headmaster of a government primary school in Faiyaznagar village, Amroha district. According to his family, Kumar had been under severe stress due to the demanding workload of the ongoing electoral roll revision.
"His wife, Pratibha, tried to wake him early on Monday morning, but he remained unresponsive," a family member recounted. "We called villagers for help, but he had died by the time they arrived." Kumar is survived by his wife and two children—a 13-year-old daughter and a 10-year-old son.
A System Under Strain
Kumar's brother-in-law, Lal Singh, who was also his working partner for the SIR exercise, confirmed the intense pressure on BLOs to meet targets. Singh directly linked the tragedy to the tight deadlines, stating, "If Election Commissioner Gyanesh Prakash had extended the deadline earlier—like it has now been extended till Dec 11—this incident would not have occurred."
This case underscores a persistent issue in Uttar Pradesh: the deployment of teachers for election-related work despite a February 2025 Allahabad High Court observation that they should be used only if no other staff are available. Limited manpower continues to drive this practice.
A Grim Toll in Ten Days
Kumar's death is the latest in a disturbing series of fatalities among BLOs during the SIR work:
- Three officials died by suicide: Sarvesh Singh (40, Moradabad) cited distress over digital uploads; Sudhir Kumar Kuril (27, Fatehpur) died a day before his wedding; Vipin Yadav (35, Gonda) allegedly consumed poison.
- Four others died of medical causes: Shobha Rani (56, Bijnor) collapsed after illness and long hours; Sarvesh Kumar Gangwar (47, Bareilly) and Ranju Dubey (44, Deoria) died of cardiac arrest; Vijay Kumar Verma (40, Lucknow) died of a brain haemorrhage.
Despite these alarming incidents, the chief electoral office of Uttar Pradesh has not issued any official response. The growing concern over the safety and workload of officials tasked with fundamental democratic exercises remains unaddressed at an institutional level.
