Kolkata: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday sought a detailed report from the District Magistrate (also the District Election Officer) of Jalpaiguri in West Bengal over the suicide of a female Booth-Level Officer (BLO) at Mal Bazar area in the same district earlier in the day, reportedly due to the workload of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise by the commission.
The commission had sought the report hours after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee issued a strong social media statement holding the ECI responsible for the suicide of the BLO.
She also claimed that the commission’s undue pressure on the BLOs to complete the revision exercise in just two months has put tremendous pressure on the BLOs and the woman officer at Mal Bazar was the first victim of that workload.
On being instructed by the ECI, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of West Bengal, Manoj Kumar Agarwal, on Wednesday afternoon directed the District Election Officer of Jalpaiguri to send a report in the matter at the earliest, an insider from the CEO’s office confirmed.
“Once the CEO gets the report, he will forward the same to the ECI headquarters in New Delhi,” the CEO’s office insider confirmed.
The suicide had taken place at a time when a four-member central ECI team is in Bengal for a four-day visit to review the progress of the SIR in the state.
The family members of the deceased BLO alleged that she decided to end her life as she could not bear the pressure of SIR work. According to the police, the deceased has been identified as Shantimani Ekka, a resident of Rangamati Panchayat in Mal Bazar.
She was recently given the responsibility of the SIR work. Being a BLO, she was going door-to-door to distribute enumeration forms and receive the filled-out forms.
Earlier this month, a female BLO died of a brain stroke due to work pressure. The incident took place at Memari in East Burdwan district. The deceased was identified as Namita Hansda, who was an Anganwadi worker by profession.
She was working as a BLO of booth number 278 of Chowk Balrampur in Memari and she suffered a brain stroke following a tiring day of door-to-door visits to distribute enumeration forms.
(IANS)
