In Gujarat’s Kheda district, 50-year-old school principal and Block Level Officer (BLO) Rameshbhai Parmar died of a heart attack in his sleep, with his family blaming excessive work pressure from the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Parmar, a resident of Jambudi village and Principal at Navapura Primary School, had been balancing his regular teaching duties alongside demanding BLO responsibilities, which reportedly involved extensive travel and late-night paperwork.

According to his family, Parmar returned home late on Wednesday evening after fieldwork, traveled to a relative’s home due to poor mobile network connectivity to upload documents, and worked until nearly midnight. Despite fatigue, he finished the paperwork before dinner and went to bed but tragically did not wake up the next morning. Medical officials confirmed his death was due to cardiac arrest, which the family attributes to sustained stress and workload in the electoral roll revision.

Parmar’s brother highlighted that the BLO duties added severe strain, as Parmar had to commute over 90 kilometers daily by motorcycle between his school and assigned villages. Parmar’s daughter shared that he was visibly under pressure during the revision process, which has been widely criticized for demanding long hours and unrealistic targets from BLOs nationwide.

Also Read: TVK Protests Across Tamil Nadu Over Alleged Bias in Voter Revision

This death comes amid growing concerns as multiple BLOs across states like West Bengal, Kerala, and Rajasthan have died or attempted suicide in connection with SIR duties. The Congress party has condemned the heavy workload on teachers deployed as BLOs and questioned governmental accountability in ensuring their wellbeing.

Repeated requests for official comment from district election and education officials remain unanswered. Meanwhile, the Election Commission continues voter list revisions across several states, sparking debate over working conditions and the human cost of the nationwide electoral exercise.

Also Read: Mamata Banerjee Denies Receiving Voter Revision Form, Calls Media Reports “False and Misleading”