Kolkata: The wife of BLO Anirban Banerjee from Domjur in Howrah, who is undergoing treatment for his leg infection at a private hospital off EM Bypass, has sought financial help from the Election Commission (EC) to pay her husband's medical bills. The commission, in reply to her appeal, stated that they would try to make arrangements for his shifting to a state-run medical facility like the SSKM Hospital.
Makardah resident Moumita Banerjee complained that excessive walking due to SIR work caused an infection in her husband's left leg and led to his hospitalisation in the city on Tuesday night.
"I have 50% disability following an accident two years ago but was forced to take up the work of a BLO of part number 63 in Domjur. Despite submitting my disability certificate with a request for exemption from the BLO's duty, I have not received any response from their side. The infection in my left leg took a serious turn as it was bleeding. Now my bleeding has stopped, but treatment for the infection is still on," said Banerjee, a primary schoolteacher in Domjur.
With the medical bills inflating in the past three days, his wife knocked on the doors of the CEO office West Bengal and urged for financial support for the BLO's treatment. She met the additional CEO Dibyendu Das on Thursday afternoon.
"My husband sustained a toe injury in July, and doctors advised him not to walk long distances. But his legs did not get any respite due to the SIR exercise as he had to walk extensively door-to-door for the exercise. This affected the condition of his leg and resulted in the infection. We admitted him to the private hospital when the infection reached an acute stage," said Moumita.
She also alleged that though she is neither a BLO nor a govt employee, the ERO compelled her to digitise about 80 forms because of her husband's hospitalisation and cited it as "an easy job".
Asked about the EC's assurance of getting her husband transferred to the SSKM, she said, "The EC officials told me that he would be shifted to the state-run hospital where he will get free treatment. I have discussed the matter with my family members who are hesitating to shift him to another hospital. My appeal to the EC was sharing of his treatment expenses, not his transfer to any state-run facility."