The demanding workload placed on Booth Level Officers (BLOs) during Gujarat’s ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has come under sharper scrutiny after both the death of Rameshbhai Parmar, a BLO from Kheda district, and the suicide of Arvind Vadher, a government teacher from Somnath, earlier this week.
These two incidents have intensified concerns from families and teacher groups who believe the SIR process imposes heavy and often unmanageable pressure on BLOs, many of whom are schoolteachers juggling dual responsibilities.
Fifty-year-old Rameshbhai Parmar, principal of Navapura Primary School serving as a BLO for the last two weeks, died in his sleep at his home in Jambudi village, Kapadvanj taluka, in the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday. His family believes the stress and long hours required for BLO duties during the SIR led to his sudden death.
Parmar died sometime between Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning, his brother, Narendra Parmar said.
In another case, Arvind Vadher, a government teacher from Kodinar, died by suicide on Friday morning. In the suicide note addressed to his wife, Vadher mentioned experiencing mental stress on account of the exercise.
Education Department officials said they are also examining the circumstances surrounding the school principal’s death and will meet the family.
Meanwhile, a senior police officer from Kheda told a section of the media that the death appeared to be natural, and no investigation had been launched as neither the family nor the department had lodged a formal complaint.
However, Parmar’s daughter Shilpa claimed that her father had been under considerable stress owing to his BLO tasks. She said he had stayed up late on Wednesday to finish electoral roll data entries and didn’t wake up the next morning.
For the last two weeks, she added, he had been working without breaks, often skipping meals because of deadlines. On the night before his death, he hurriedly had tea, travelled to a relative’s home in another village because of poor mobile connectivity at his own house, completed the day’s data entry there, and returned home late.
Shilpa also mentioned that her father commuted nearly 30 km every day between Jambudi and Navapura. According to the family, the pressure of completing SIR-related work within strict time limits had taken a toll.
“The extra workload and exhaustion cost him his life,” she said.
Gujarat Congress vice president Bimal Shah told Vibes of India that the party’s delegation met the state electoral officer to raise various issues related to SIR.
He said that the kind of deadline that has been given creates pressure on the BLOs. Several BLOs do not even have details of 2002, the cut-off that has been kept in consideration for the exercise, he added.
Kheda DPEO Pravesh Vaghela told reporters that the department had only learned of the incident through media reports. He said no complaint had been received alleging overwork.
While there was no formal assessment report yet, the Taluka Primary Education Officer has been asked to conduct an inquiry.
Vaghela noted that around 50,963 BLOs are currently deployed for SIR across Gujarat, with a sanctioned budget of Rs 308.5 crore, and that a majority of BLOs are schoolteachers.
Teacher organisations have recently protested the additional responsibilities placed on educators. The Akhil Bharatiya Rashtriya Shaikshik Mahasangh Gujarat, in its submissions to the state government, criticised the issuance of arrest warrants for teachers who fail to report for BLO duty, calling it a “slavery practice” and urging the government to stop it to “preserve the respect of teachers”.
The Congress has also objected to the extensive use of teachers for BLO roles. Gujarat Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi cited the latest Parakh Survey, which places the state among the bottom ten in educational performance, arguing that assigning nearly 90 per cent of BLO duties to teachers further undermines classroom instruction.
“If teachers must carry out SIR work after school hours, how much attention can they give to students? How will education standards improve if education is not treated as a priority?” he asked.
Gujarat Aam Aadmi President Isudan Ghadvi criticised the intense pressure on the BLOs and alleged that the exercise is being conducted so that the BJP wins the upcoming taluka and district panchayat, and municipal corporation elections next year. He said that any BLO getting pressured should get in touch with his party and they would take up the issue.
Also Read: Five Crore Voters Targeted As Gujarat Launches Electoral Roll Drive https://www.vibesofindia.com/five-crore-voters-targeted-as-gujarat-launches-electoral-roll-drive/
