BLO collapses, AERO suffers stroke, families blame SIR ‘stress’
Times of India | 1 December 2025
Kolkata/Tamluk: Two Bengal govt officials, a booth level officer (BLO) and an assistant electoral registration officer (AERO), involved in the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls collapsed and were hospitalized in Kolkata on Sunday.
The incidents, reported from Basirhat in North 24 Parganas and Chandipur in East Midnapore, triggered fresh concerns over mounting work pressure associated with the Election Commission exercise.
In Basirhat, 48-year-old Shankar Singh, the BLO of booth no. 89 under Bishnupur panchayat in Hingalganj constituency, collapsed during fieldwork on Saturday night. He was first taken to Hingalganj Block Hospital and later shifted to SSKM Hospital, where doctors said he had suffered a cardiac arrest. His family, however, alleged that excessive workload and mental stress triggered the condition.
Shankar's wife Mamoni Sarkar Singh claimed he repeatedly sought exemption from SIR duties due to stress. "Unable to bear the stress, particularly the pressure of uploading forms online, he got in touch with senior officials seeking exemption from SIR duties, but received no relief," she said.
In East Midnapore, Vivekanand Pal, an AERO (one who supervises BLOs) and block youth officer posted in Pingla, suffered a brain stroke at his Chandipur home on Sunday morning. Pal, a resident of Hanschara, collapsed around 6.30am.
He was initially admitted to Tamralipta District Hospital, where a CT scan indicated a major cerebral complication. Doctors advised Pal's immediate transfer to a specialized neurology centre in Kolkata, where he remains critical.
Pal's family members alleged that the intense pressure of completing SIR-related work led to the collapse. A relative, Jhuma Rani Santra, said Pal was constantly worried about meeting the strict deadlines set by the EC. "Vivekanand often voiced his concern whether the work involving the verification of electoral rolls would be completed in time," Santra said.
Pal was reportedly supervising 40 BLOs, and according to his family, he feared that any delay or incomplete work by them would fall entirely on his shoulders. "He lost consciousness. The CT scan indicated a problem in the brain and we were told that one of his eyeballs had sunk, necessitating the immediate transfer to Kolkata," Santra added.