West Bengal booth level officer found dead, family cites SIR work stress
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A booth-level officer in West Bengal's Nadia district died by suicide on Saturday, with her family blaming severe work pressure from the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
The deceased, 53-year-old Rinku Tarafdar, was a para-teacher from Krishnanagar who had recently been assigned BLO duties. Her husband found her dead at their home in Sasthitala.
The police have not yet issued a statement.
Her family said she had been under intense stress, especially after BLOs were asked to handle data entry. They said she did not have the computer skills needed for the digital workload linked to the SIR exercise.
They alleged she had been struggling with door-to-door visits, continuous calls about enumeration forms, strict deadlines, and the fear of punitive action if she made mistakes.
“In her suicide note, she has blamed the Election Commission. She was unable to upload the form online. She used to worry that she would be blamed for the non-completion of forms,” her husband, Asish Tarafdar, told the media.
Her brother-in-law, Abhijit Tarafdar, said she worked as a part-time teacher and was not used to computers.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed her anger over the incident. “Profoundly shocked to know of the death of yet another BLO, a lady para-teacher, who has committed suicide at Krishnanagar today. BLO of part number 201 of AC 82 Chapra, Smt Rinku Tarafdar, has blamed ECI in her suicide note ( copy is attached herewith) before committing suicide at her residence today,” she posted on X. “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!!”
The incident took place two days after Banerjee wrote to the chief election commissioner. In her letter, she mentioned multiple suicides of BLOs and citizens in Bengal, accused the Election Commission of rushing the voter list revision, and called for its suspension.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission has asked the district magistrate for an urgent report.
This is the second BLO death this month linked to work pressure. Earlier in the week, 48-year-old Shantimoni Ekka from Malbazar allegedly died by suicide after being assigned SIR duties. Her family said she was under tremendous pressure. The police did not find a suicide note.
On November 9, BLO Namita Hansdar died of a brain stroke in Purba Bardhaman. Her family claimed she had been working “day and night” as BLO of booth number 278 of Chowk Balrampur, Memari.
According to sources in the chief minister’s office, cheques of Rs 2 lakh each have been sent to the families of the two deceased BLOs.