New Delhi: Days after two persons working as booth level officers (BLOs) in Kerala and Rajasthan died by suicide allegedly due to high pressure at work related to the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of voter rolls, a school teacher who was working as a BLO in Gujarat’s Kheda district has also died after suffering a heart attack.

The family of the BLO, who has been identified as Rameshbhai Parmar (50), a resident of Jambudi village in Kapadvanj taluka of the district, has said that the cause of his death was "excessive work pressure" linked to the ongoing SIR, reported Press Trust of India.

His brother Narendra Parmar told reporters that the BLO died of a heart attack in his sleep at his home during the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday (November 19-20).

"After finishing his work as a BLO, he returned home around 7.30 pm on Wednesday and once again started doing paperwork after getting fresh. Since there is an issue with the mobile network in his village, he came to my house to finish his work. He worked till 11.30 pm and returned to his house.
He then went to sleep after having dinner. But when he did not wake up in the morning, we immediately took him to a nearby hospital where doctors declared him dead,” said Narendra Parmar.

“We believe that he suffered a heart attack due to excessive work pressure," the brother of the deceased added, he added. Rameshbhai Parmar's daughter Shilpa too said that that he was "under pressure" due to BLO-related work.

His death is the third such incident within a week.

Earlier, on November 16, 44-year-old Aneesh George, a school office assistant was found dead in his home in Kerala’s Kannur. According to his family, George was overwhelmed by the intense work to meet the deadlines for the enumeration task at his booth.

A similar incident was reported from Rajasthan’s Nahri Ka Bas where 45-year-old Mukesh Jangid, a government school teacher and BLO, died allegedly by suicide on November 16. While details are not yet clear, according to Bindayaka SHO Vinod Verma, he allegedly jumped in front of a train near the Bindayaka railway crossing.

Jangid’s brother Gajanand claimed to have found his brother’s suicide note, in which he allegedly wrote that he was under stress due to SIR duties and that his supervisor was pressuring him and threatening suspension.

The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.