The emotional video he recorded moments before his death highlights the severe mental strain, sleeplessness and anxiety increasingly reported by frontline election workers.
BY PC BUREAU
December 1, 2025: A Booth-Level Officer (BLO) in Uttar Pradesh has died by suicide, once again exposing the crushing workload and mounting emotional distress faced by frontline officials involved in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The latest death underscores a deepening crisis within the electoral machinery — one that officials warn could grow unless urgent systemic reforms are undertaken.
the victim, 46-year-old Sarvesh Singh of Moradabad, was an assistant teacher who had been assigned BLO duty for the first time on October 7. What should have been a routine voter-roll task quickly turned into a devastating pressure trap.
In a heart-wrenching video recorded minutes before his death, Singh breaks down in uncontrollable tears. He apologises to his mother and sister, begs them to care for his four daughters, and repeatedly laments that despite working day and night, he could not meet the targets assigned to him under the SIR drive.
“I have not slept for 20 days… Others finish their work, but I am unable to,”
he says, sobbing and visibly exhausted.
“Mother, please take care of my daughters… Don’t blame anyone.”
Early Sunday morning, his wife Babli Devi found him hanging in the storage room of their home.
More than 30 BLOs have committed suicide due to the extreme mental stress of SIR work. This is the video of BLO Sarvesh Singh in which he was crying before taking his life.@ECISVEEP and Gyanesh Kumar have not even acknowledged these deaths, let alone offered a word of… pic.twitter.com/u0eBDzcwX3
— Dr. Shama Mohamed (@drshamamohd) December 1, 2025
A Note That Speaks of Overwork, Anxiety, and Sleepless Nights
Police recovered a two-page handwritten suicide note addressed to the district Basic Education Officer. In it, Singh describes chest-tightening anxiety, sleeplessness, and his inability to keep up with the SIR’s relentless reporting cycles.
“I barely sleep for two to three hours. My nights are unbearable.
I have four daughters, two of them unwell. Please forgive me.”
Senior police officer Ashish Pratap Singh confirmed the contents of the note and said further legal proceedings are underway.
Family members say Singh had been working until midnight most days, juggling BLO duties with his responsibilities as a schoolteacher. “He was terrified of missing the daily reporting deadlines,” a relative said.
A Disturbing Pattern Across States
Singh’s death is not an isolated tragedy — it is part of a grim pattern that has emerged across multiple states since the SIR began in October.
Officials from teachers’ unions, poll workers’ groups, and district administrations confirm that a wave of suicides and medical emergencies has hit BLOs across the country due to extreme work pressure, lack of training, and insufficient support staff.
Why BLOs Are Under Severe Stress
- Daily and weekly deadlines for uploading voter documents
- Door-to-door verification in remote or unsafe areas
- Strict pressure from senior officials
- Threat of disciplinary action for delays
- Long hours, often extending past midnight
- Little or no technical assistance for digital uploads
The SIR exercise — running across 12 states including Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Madhya Pradesh — is intended to clean up voter lists before the 2026 election cycle. But many BLOs say the pace and intensity have become unbearable.
FACT BOX: Recent Suicides Linked to SIR Workload
(Based on reports from local administrations, unions, and media in November–December 2025)
| Name | State / District | Age | Profession | Reported Cause |
| Sarvesh Singh | Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh | 46 | Assistant teacher / BLO | Extreme SIR workload, sleeplessness |
| Meera Kumari | Darbhanga, Bihar | 38 | Anganwadi worker / BLO | Anxiety after repeated survey rounds |
| R. Krishnan | Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu | 51 | Govt clerk / BLO | Data-upload pressure, panic attacks |
| Sandip Dutta | North 24 Parganas, West Bengal | 42 | Primary teacher / BLO | Fear of punitive action for delays |
| Unnamed BLO | Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh | — | Health worker / BLO | Overwork, depression (noted in FIR) |
Teachers’ unions claim the actual number of cases may be higher, with several “near-suicide attempts” reported but not officially recorded.
Why SIR Has Become a Flashpoint
- First-time appointees lack training
Many BLOs assigned in 2025 have never handled digital voter-updates, making the process overwhelming.
- Unreasonable targets
Some BLOs have been given 800–1,200 households to survey within weeks.
- Pressure from multiple layers
Daily review meetings, WhatsApp reminders, and repeated warnings from senior officers have created a climate of fear.
- No counselling or support system
Officials facing emotional breakdowns have no institutional channel to seek help.
Authorities React — But Too Late for Many
Moradabad District Magistrate Anuj Kumar Singh praised the dedication of the deceased and assured support for the family. “His work was excellent; he was known to be sincere,” he said.
The Election Commission, watching the rising number of distress cases, announced a one-week extension for BLOs and Booth-Level Agents to submit lists of absent, shifted, deceased, and duplicate voters.
Officials also hinted at additional technical support teams, but no structural reforms have been announced.
For many exhausted BLOs, the extension amounts to little more than a minor pause in an already overwhelming workload.
A System Near Breaking Point
Singh’s death — like those before him — exposes the human cost of India’s vast electoral machinery, which rests heavily on the shoulders of overworked, undertrained, and under-supported local officials.
The video he left behind is not just a farewell — it is an indictment of a system that failed to hear the silent cries of those running the world’s largest democracy at the grassroots.
Unless urgent corrections are made, unions warn, the SIR exercise could trigger more tragedies.
