Two booth level officers from Kerala and Rajasthan have died by suicide, with their families alleging that the pressure of voter roll revision work pushed them to the edge.
In Kerala’s Kannur district, 44-year-old Aneesh George, who worked as a school office assistant, was found dead at his home on Sunday. His family said he had been struggling to meet deadlines for the voter enumeration work that the Election Commission began on November 4. “He was overwhelmed by the pressure,” a friend told The Indian Express. The friend added that Aneesh had difficulty distributing forms because he was unfamiliar with the area allocated to him. Another friend claimed he had asked local party booth agents for help but “they were not helpful”.
Election officer T Manoharan said that Aneesh had already distributed 878 of 1,065 forms. “Only a small portion was left,” he said, adding, “I cannot comment on whether he was under pressure.” The Peringome Police have registered a case of unnatural death.
Kerala’s Chief Electoral Officer Rathan U Kelkar said the voter roll revision is usually done within 31 days and no earlier complaints of excessive workload had been received. But booth level officers in the state announced they would step back from their duties on Monday, calling the targets “unrealistic”.
A similar tragedy occurred in Rajasthan, where 45-year-old teacher and booth level officer Mukesh Jangid died by suicide in Nahri Ka Bas on Sunday. His family told PTI that they found a note in which he wrote that he was under intense pressure from his supervisor to finish the work, and that he had been “threatened with suspension” if he failed. Police said they would file a case based on the family’s complaint.
Vipin Sharma, general secretary of the All Rajasthan State Employees Joint Federation (Unified), said the organisation would submit a memorandum to the chief minister. “Officials should reduce pressure on booth level officers, especially when schools are short-staffed and half-yearly exams have begun,” he said.
The Election Commission is currently revising voter rolls in 12 states and Union Territories, including Kerala, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Gujarat. Booth level officers, who are usually government school teachers or anganwadi and health workers, go door-to-door to check new voters and remove names of those who have died or moved away. Each officer manages the list of one polling booth, which can have up to 1,500 voters.
The draft rolls will be published on December 9, and the final list on February 7 after claims and objections are addressed. Multiple petitions are pending before the Supreme Court against the exercise, with concerns that large numbers of eligible voters could be removed. Bihar’s voter list revision earlier this year saw around 47 lakh names excluded.
