In Madhya Pradesh’s Jhabua district, a booth level officer (BLO), Bhuvan Singh Chauhan, collapsed and died a day after being suspended for allegedly neglecting his duties, with his family saying he was under immense pressure from the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. Chauhan, an assistant teacher in Soliya village, was reportedly tasked with surveying at least 100 voters daily as part of the SIR process. His daughter, Sangeeta Chauhan, said, “He was facing issues as there was pressure to survey at least 100 voters daily. On the day he was suspended, he couldn’t bear the pressure. He died on Wednesday.”
His wife, Mishri Chauhan, described his final hours, saying, “He suddenly felt dizzy and collapsed from the stairs. He was immediately taken to the Community Health Centre in Bori, where doctors declared him dead.” Family members said he neither ate nor slept the night after his suspension.
The suspension order accused Chauhan of failing to conduct door-to-door surveys, attend training sessions, or perform the required digitisation of voter forms, leaving progress at just three percent. The document stated that his actions amounted to “serious negligence and apathy towards an important and time-bound election duty,” and constituted a violation of Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950.
Jhabua sub-divisional magistrate Bhaskar Gachle said the suspension followed a complaint from the Naib Tehsildar about Chauhan’s repeated absences and failure to perform his election duties.
The case comes amid growing reports of stress on teachers and BLOs assigned to SIR work. Earlier this month, a teacher in Datia reportedly died by suicide, with the family attributing it to SIR-related pressure. In Sagar district alone, authorities suspended nine BLOs and issued show-cause notices to three SDMs and 15 tehsildars for delays or poor progress in the survey process.
