Kolkata, Nov 27 (IANS) Another Booth Level Officer (BLO) has suffered a heart attack in the middle of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) related work in West Bengal, raising serious concerns over the well-being of such officers in the state.
Responding to the incident, BJP MP Saumitra Khan dismissed any attempt to link the BLO’s illness to the SIR process or the BJP. He said that under the West Bengal government, nearly five lakh people work.
“If any one of them falls ill, does that mean the state government is responsible? People can fall sick for many reasons,” he said.
Khan further said that during the SIR process, if someone falls ill due to cold, heat, or mental stress, how can SIR be blamed? Is the Prime Minister responsible for this, or the Chief Minister?
Referring to the state government’s compensation for BLOs, the BJP MP said, “Mamata herself said that if someone falls or dies, compensation or benefits will be given. This has led people to believe that if anyone dies, employment benefits will follow. This mindset is dangerous.”
Khan added that the illness or death of a BLO cannot be used to create a false political narrative on the ongoing SIR process.
The BLO, identified as Kamal Kumar Biswas from the Barjora area of Bankura district, had been engaged in filling SIR enumeration forms for several days.
According to his wife, he had been working continuously—staying awake at night and spending most of the day completing forms. Under severe physical and mental stress, he suddenly experienced intense chest pain and collapsed.
He was immediately rushed to a private hospital in the Bidhannagar area in Durgapur of West Burdwan district, where he underwent a heart operation on Wednesday. His condition is currently stable.
On Thursday, a BLO was admitted to a hospital in Bangaon of North 24 Parganas district after suffering a cardiac arrest due to SIR-related workload pressure.
The incident comes within a week after two female BLOs died by suicide due to stress and workload pressure of SIR-related work, while another BLO suffered a cerebral attack in the middle of SIR work. It was also learnt that another BLO similarly suffered a heart attack in the Gosaba area of South 24 Parganas district over the same work.
–IANS
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