BLO dies due to heart attack in Murshidabad, family blames it on SIR workload pressure

A heartbreaking tragedy has struck Murshidabad district’s Khargram area where a primary school teacher and Booth Level Officer (BLO), Zakir Hossain, dies due to sudden heart attack while working late into the night on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists, claims family. The teacher from Khargram's Digha Primary School was handling booth number 14 and according to his grieving family, had been staying awake almost every night to upload SIR forms. They say the endless pressure turned him mentally exhausted and finally took his life today midnight.

Local Trinamool leaders rushed to the spot after hearing the news, but doctors at the hospital could not save him. Family members reveals that Zakir used to leave home early every morning and then sit with his phone or laptop till 2-3 am midnight trying to upload SIR data. He kept telling that the server never works properly and the deadline is too tight, says victim's family. He had even complained that this extra election duty was destroying his health. Despite repeated pleas for help or extra time, the work kept piling up, leaving him no choice but to push through sleepless nights.

This is not an isolated case across  Bengal, many BLOs, mostly teachers, are breaking down under the same crushing load of SIR work. Slow servers, poor internet, and strict deadlines from the Election Commission have already driven some officers to suicide and landed several in hospital with stress-related illnesses. CM Mamata Banerjee has criticised and slammed the Election Commission several times for putting huge pressure on school teachers without proper facilities. Zakir Hossain’s death has once again spotlighted the human cost behind keeping voter lists updated. As per reports, a total of 4 BLOs have lost their lives so far, 14 are admitted in hospitals.