Another BLO dies of heart attack in Gujarat; fourth incident during SIR

A teacher serving as a Booth Level Officer (BLO) for the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in north Gujarat’s Mehsana district died of a heart attack in the early hours of Friday. The deceased, 50-year-old Dinesh Raval, collapsed in Sudasana village of Santalsana taluka, where he also taught at a primary school.Reports indicate that Raval had been working late into the night for the past four to five days to upload documents to the server, as internet issues during the daytime made the process difficult. The heavy workload and pressure to meet deadlines had reportedly caused significant stress.
Raval’s death marks the fourth such case involving a BLO in the state this month. Earlier, 56-year-old Kalpna Patel in Tapi, 50-year-old Ramesh Parmar in Kheda and 50-year-old Usha Solanki in Vadodara died due to heart attacks while on duty.In a separate incident on November 20, 40-year-old BLO Arvind Vadher died by suicide, leaving a note blaming the burden of responsibilities linked to the SIR exercise.Expressing concern, Gujarat Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi said the situation pointed to deeper systemic issues. “In our country, elections are regarded as independent and fair, but those responsible for conducting them are under constant stress. Every day, strange happenings are being reported involving BLOs. The problem isn’t with the people, but with the policies, and that’s truly unfortunate,” he said.

(State Correspondent)