SIR stress taking its toll on booth-level officers
The Tribune Editorial: Purification of poll rolls is a prerequisite for free and fair elections, but this important exercise should not be reduced to a rush job.
Updated At : 02:31 AM Dec 02, 2025 IST
THE ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in nine states and three union territories has triggered panic and chaos, putting immense pressure on ground-level poll officials. Several booth-level officers (BLOs), whose key job is to update voter lists, have died in West Bengal and other states, mostly by suicide due to the stress of meeting tight deadlines. They are being hounded not only by their seniors but also by ruling and Opposition parties. The Election Commission of India (ECI) has now extended the entire SIR schedule by a week, but that won’t help much to ease tensions or allay apprehensions of various stakeholders.
