Bengal Teachers Facing Health Crisis Due to Election Commission's SIR Duties: Growing Controversy in West Bengal

Kamal Naskar, a Booth Level Officer in Bengal's Joynagar, was hospitalized yesterday amidst ongoing tensions between the West Bengal government and Election Commission.

In Kolkata, as conflict intensifies between Mamata Banerjee's government and the Election Commission regarding the suicides of two Booth Level Officers (BLOs) during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), another BLO has been hospitalized in South 24 Parganas. Family members of Kamal Naskar attribute his condition to work-related stress, though medical professionals have yet to release an official statement regarding his health status.

Naskar, who serves as headmaster of a primary school while fulfilling BLO duties in Joynagar, South 24 Parganas district, explained he had been conducting door-to-door visits for the SIR exercise throughout the election-bound state. "I received forms on November 13 and distributed them. The next phase required collecting completed forms from voters. With a November 26 deadline looming, I became ill from anxiety about potentially missing this deadline," he stated.

According to his family, Naskar attended a BLO meeting yesterday where participants were instructed to gather application forms for submission by November 26. Upon returning home, Naskar immediately began feeling unwell, prompting his family to rush him to a private medical facility. Both the Block Development Officer and local Trinamool MLA visited him there. MLA Bishwanath Das pointed to "excessive workload on BLOs" as the cause.

This incident follows the discovery of another BLO from Bengal's Nadia district found hanging in her residence just a day earlier. The family of Rinku Tarafdar has indicated she experienced tremendous pressure from SIR responsibilities, leading to her suicide.

A note discovered at 52-year-old Tarafdar's home read: "I wanted to live. My family lacks nothing. But, for this modest job, they pushed me to such humiliation that I was left with no choice but to die. The Election Commission is responsible for this. I cannot bear this inhuman workload. I am a part-time teacher, and my salary is very low compared to my effort, yet they will not relieve me. I had completed 95 percent of the offline work, but I was unable to manage the online tasks. Despite informing the BDO office and my supervisor, no action was taken."

Chief Minister Banerjee shared the note on social media platform X, writing: "How many more lives will be lost? How many more need to die for this SIR? How many more dead bodies shall we see for this process? This has become truly alarming now!!"

Senior BJP leader Rahul Sinha dismissed Banerjee's statements, telling PTI news agency: "This is absolutely meaningless. If the TMC leaders are brave enough, they should demand a CBI investigation into the death of the BLO. I can challenge that the suicide note is fake."

Banerjee, preparing for Assembly elections next year, recently wrote to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar urging suspension of the SIR exercise. "BLOs are now operating far beyond human limits. What is particularly unacceptable is the response from the Election Commission at this juncture! Instead of offering support, extending timelines, or addressing systemic flaws, the office of CEO West Bengal has resorted to intimidation," she expressed.

"I would request you to kindly intervene decisively to halt the ongoing exercise, stop coercive measures, provide proper training and support, and thoroughly reassess the present methodology and timelines," her letter continued.

Election Commission sources indicate BLOs have received comprehensive training through both the ECI center and the Chief Election Officer's office. "BLOs have been provided comprehensive training at the ECI's training centre in Delhi, and other BLOs have been trained by the CEO's office. We are carefully examining the Chief Minister's letter, and a detailed reply will be issued in due course," one source revealed. "If necessary, the Commission is prepared to deploy additional officers to support the BLOs, as was successfully done in Bihar by involving Jeevika Didis or volunteers."

Previous reports indicate numerous teachers assigned BLO duties have filed complaints with the Election Commission, alleging that several state-run schools in Bengal were not exempting them from regular teaching responsibilities to perform SIR work.

"The ECI is viewing the complaints against the school authorities quite seriously and will shortly communicate with the state government to direct them to excuse the teachers from their regular assignments to perform BLO duties," sources in the Chief Electoral Officer's office told IANS news agency.