Lucknow: The opposition on Tuesday raised serious concerns in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly over alleged suicides and deaths of Booth Level Officers and other staff during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, accusing the government of administrative negligence and undue pressure on field workers.
Congress MLA Aradhana Mishra Mona targeted the government, claiming that at least 10 BLOs have died during the exercise. She questioned the haste with which the Special Intensive Revision was conducted and alleged that teachers were assigned BLO duties without proper training. Mishra said officials put excessive pressure on them, which, she alleged, led to the deaths.
Citing specific cases, the Congress MLA referred to the suicide of a teacher named Sarvesh in Moradabad. She also mentioned the case of a 27-year-old lekhpal in Fatehpur who allegedly died by suicide a day before his wedding. Mishra further claimed that a woman teacher died of a heart attack while on duty. She said these were only the cases that surfaced on social media and alleged that several other such incidents may have gone unreported.
She accused the government of failing to take responsibility for these deaths and alleged that teachers lost their lives due to administrative lapses. Mishra also claimed that the hurried exercise led to the deletion of names of the poor and Dalits from the voters’ list. Raising the issue of accountability, she asked whether the government would provide jobs to the family members of the deceased and demanded an ex gratia of ₹50 lakh for each affected family.
Samajwadi Party MLA Atul Pradhan also raised concerns over the functioning of BLOs during the revision exercise. He alleged that BLOs were being pressured to delete the names of voters who were staying outside their native places. Pradhan said that even when family members were willing to fill forms on behalf of such voters, BLOs were allegedly forcing the deletion of their names. He also pointed out that earlier a person could easily apply to become a voter by filling Form 6, but now affidavits are being sought, which cost around ₹600 to prepare.
Meanwhile, the House paid tributes to former prime minister Chaudhary Charan Singh on his birth anniversary. Members offered floral tributes, and Agriculture Minister Surya Pratap Shahi spoke about Charan Singh’s life and his contributions, particularly towards farmers and rural India.
