BLO dies of stroke in Bengal, family links it to SIR work pressure 

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.