With the Election Commission of India extending the Special Intensive Revision deadline for five states and one Union Territory on December 11, a quieter and more troubling crisis continues to unfold on the ground.
What was meant to be a routine voter-roll audit is increasingly shadowed by reports of alleged suicides and stress-related deaths among Booth Level Officers.
Following over a dozen reported deaths linked to the SIR workload, the ECI revised its schedule, giving Tamil Nadu and Gujarat until December 14, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Andaman & Nicobar Islands until December 18, and Uttar Pradesh until December 26. Meanwhile, fresh reports of BLOs collapsing on duty continue to surface across states.
What is SIR and why the pressure
The Special Intensive Revision was launched across 12 states and Union Territories beginning 4 November 2025 with the aim to distribute, collect and digitise voter-verification forms quickly to update outdated electoral rolls.
In theory, a routine verification exercise. On the ground, it has translated into a race against impossible deadlines. BLOs, many of them schoolteachers, support-staff or anganwadi workers, are now expected to juggle their regular jobs and SIR duties simultaneously.
Reports say deadlines are tight, technical glitches, repeated data mismatches and digital uploads have been frequent. Servers reportedly crash, data gets lost, voters rarely cooperate. In many booths, a single BLO handles hundreds of forms every day.
BLO Dies a Day Before His Wedding
To grasp what pushed these officers to such tragic ends, The Logical Indian spoke to the families of two Booth Level Officers who allegedly died by suicide.
“Instead of a wedding procession, a funeral procession emerged,” said Amrita sister of Sudhir Kumar, who allegedly died by suicide a day before his marriage.
Sudhir Kumar had been trying for a month to get leave for his wedding, scheduled for 26 November. “He had been trying to get a leave for a month. But he was not able to get a leave. He was on duty at SIR.”
When he finally skipped duty on 21 November to attempt preparations, “he was suspended… in front of 25–30 people. He was humiliated so much that he could not tolerate it,” Amrita told The Logical Indian.
According to Amrita, on the morning of Sudhir’s death, officials knocked on his door around 6:30 am, triggering a wave of panic that allegedly left him feeling he had no option but to end his life.
“After hearing his voice, my brother Sudhir Kumar closed the door and hanged himself. He was in so much pressure..” His sister says the humiliation and constant coercion left him no room. “They have been disturbing him from the beginning. Nothing happens suddenly.
Sudhir is survived by his sister and his mother, whose health has sharply deteriorated since his death. His sister Amrita told us that the SDM had visited their home and promised ₹8 lakh in assistance, but the family has received nothing so far.
A Crying Father’s Plea for Justice
In another district of Uttar Pradesh, a support teacher, Bipin Yadav, assigned BLO duties under SIR, was under constant terror, as alleged by his family.
“There was a lot of pressure. The SDM used to say that we will send you to jail,” Suresh Yadav, father of Bipin, told The Logical Indian. The BLO, with a wife and 4-year-old son, allegedly started receiving such threats regularly.
In a video from the hospital that later went viral, he stated that he had been harassed by the SDM, CDO and lekhpal. Following the video’s circulation, a probe committee was set up to investigate the circumstances surrounding his death.
Faced with hostility from locals over Aadhaar / data verification, broken app servers and repeated warnings from supervisors, the BLO allegedly felt trapped. On 25 November, he allegedly took poison. His father says there was no follow-up official support, “We have not received any help.”
What’s happening nationwide
Across states from Madhya Pradesh to West Bengal, similar incidents have surfaced.
Reportedly, his case is not isolated, numerous other Booth Level Officers (BLOs) across various states have allegedly died of heart-related complications, with their families claiming the excessive work pressure from the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) drive was the decisive factor.
Political leaders and opposition parties have also demanded intervention. Some have called SIR a hasty, politically driven exercise, not a careful democratic audit.
Pressure, Fear and a Broken Support Structure
This is not merely about administrative fatigue. These are lives allegedly being consumed by institutional pressure.
- SIR demands are crushing, often 15–18 hour days, digital work plus field visits, with no extra compensation or support, as per reports.
- Many BLOs have regular jobs (teaching, anganwadi, clerical work). The burden of dual duty is massive.
- Technical failures, poor training, faulty apps, unstable internet, make the job worse.
- Alleged threats of FIRs, suspension, public humiliation for non-performance or minor mistakes add a layer of fear, not accountability.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
The concerns raised by families and poll workers reflect a deeper need for transparency, humane work conditions and responsive systems during SIR duties.
While the causes behind each tragedy remain under investigation, the pattern of fear, pressure and uncertainty cannot be ignored. Safeguarding electoral staff is essential to safeguarding democracy, and these voices demand urgent attention.
