In Uttar Pradesh, Sarvesh Kumar, a 46-year-old assistant teacher and BLO, was found dead at his home, leaving behind a video message, showing him sobbing incessantly, apologising to his family and saying he had not slept for nearly 20 days.
In West Bengal, Rinku Tarafdar, a para-teacher, died by suicide after reportedly completing most of the fieldwork but struggling with online uploads and fearing humiliation and legal consequences.
Rajasthan saw protests by teachers after Mukesh Jangid, a government school teacher, died by suicide, allegedly after repeated threats from supervisors over SIR targets.
In Kerala. Aneesh George, A 44-year-old school employee serving as a BLO in Kannur district was found dead at his home. His family and local residents alleged he took the extreme step due to severe pressure and long hours (sometimes working until 2 am) to meet the deadlines for the enumeration task.
In Madhya Pradesh, Bhuvan Singh Chauhan a BLO in Jhabua died suddenly after falling ill in November 2025. He had been suspended a day earlier, which his family linked to the immense pressure of the SIR work. While many deaths in MP were reported as medical emergencies like heart attacks or brain strokes, families often attributed the cause to the extreme stress and pressure from the workload. A report by the SPECT Foundation documented at least 33 deaths across six states.
BLO’s critical position in India’s elctoral machinery
Elections in India are routinely hailed as a triumph of popular sovereignty. Yet in the backdrop of elections there lies an invisible workforce that sustains the entire process. These are booth level officers (BLOs). Tasked with building and verifying the voter rolls that determine who belongs to the political community, BLOs occupy the most critical yet least acknowledged position in India’s electoral machinery.
The ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has laid bare this contradiction. As the pressure to deliver “clean” voter lists intensifies across states, BLOs—mostly teachers, Anganwadi workers and local staff—are allegedly being pushed to physical and psychological breaking points, with a growing number of deaths and suicides exposing the human cost of India’s voter roll drive.
The constitutional exercise called SIR
The SIR is a constitutionally sanctioned exercise under Article 324 of the Constitution and Section 21(2) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950. Its objective is straightforward yet critical—to cleanse electoral rolls of duplicate, deceased, shifted and illegal entries while ensuring that every eligible citizen is included. In theory, it is an exercise central to free and fair elections. In practice, however, the burden of executing this massive task has fallen almost entirely on BLOs, the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) grassroots foot soldiers.
Unlike routine summary revisions of voter lists, the SIR is a de novo (or from scratch) exercise. Every household in a polling area must be covered, every elector verified, and decades-old data cross-checked—often against electoral rolls dating back to 2002 or 2003. The exercise involves door-to-door enumeration, distribution and collection of forms, identification of absent, shifted or deceased voters, and rapid digitisation of data within unforgiving deadlines. Each BLO is responsible for a polling booth comprising 1,000 to 1,200 electors, a task that would be daunting even with adequate support and time.
The fear and coercion among BLOs conducting SIR
The problem is that BLOs are not full-time election officials. They are school teachers, Anganwadi workers, health staff and local body employees, expected to carry out SIR duties in addition to their regular jobs. The Election Commission’s own handbook describes BLO work as an “additional civic responsibility”. During the SIR, however, this “additional” duty often becomes a second full-time job. Many BLOs report working late into the night to upload data using their personal mobile phones, struggling with poor internet connectivity, especially in rural and semi-urban areas.
What makes the situation more severe is the alleged atmosphere of fear and coercion surrounding the exercise. In several states, BLOs have faced threats of suspension, departmental action and even FIRs for falling behind targets or committing minor procedural lapses. The Wire reported on 24 November 2025 “the Noida administration had filed a series of FIRs against BLOs over alleged negligence during the exercise. The action comes under the watch of district magistrate Medha Roopam, who is also the district election officer. Roopam, incidentally, is the daughter of chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.”
Administrative pressure is compounded by political interference, with local leaders demanding speedy inclusion or exclusion of names. In such a climate, accountability flows only downward, while support remains scarce. Sabrang India reported on November 28, 2025 that “The ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the country, says PUCL, is an exercise that is leading to the disenfranchisement of lakhs of voters. Notably, the SIR in Bihar led to the deletion of almost 65 lakh voters”
A comparison with Bihar, where the SIR was first conducted earlier this year, is revealing. While around 450 BLOs were suspended for negligence of duty during the exercise, no suicides were officially reported. This suggests that the issue is not inherent to the SIR itself, but to the manner in which it is implemented—particularly the degree of pressure exerted by local administrations and the absence of safeguards for workers.
ECI advice for officials: Do not pressurise BLOs
The Election Commission has responded by extending deadlines and advising officials not to unduly pressure BLOs. While welcome, these measures address symptoms rather than the structural problem. The SIR places the heaviest operational burden at the lowest rung of the electoral hierarchy, creating a profound contradiction: the most critical democratic task is executed by the least empowered functionary. BLOs are held responsible for accuracy, timelines and compliance, yet have little control over infrastructure, manpower or work conditions.