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Kerala SIR: The work of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) was widely affected on Monday due to state-wide protest by Booth Level Officers (BLOs) after a BLO worker allegedly died by suicide because of the work pressure.

As per the information provided by the police, a school employee, who was working as a Booth Level Officer (BLO) as part of the upcoming local body elections, was found hanging in his house in Kannur district, north Kerala district, on Sunday.

44-year-old Aneesh George was appointed as a BLO in Payyannur, Kannur. According to family members and residents, George took the extreme step because of work-related pressure linked to the SIR exercise.

Several organisations Carry Out Protests

Several trade unions representing state government employees, including the Action Council of State Government Employees and Teachers as well as the Joint Committee of Teacher Service Organisations, staged strong protests outside the Chief Electoral Officer’s office in Thiruvananthapuram and at district collectorates across the state. The demonstrators demanded that authorities immediately stop putting excessive pressure on Booth Level Officers (BLOs) and seriously consider postponing the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list.

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Carrying out a state-wide protest, the Kerala NGO Association demanded that SIR procedures be stopped to prevent more suicides. George's body was handed over to his relatives after the post-mortem on Monday.

On what could have forced George to this level, his family said that he was under severe work pressure related to the SIR exercise in the state. "He did not even get time to have food and sleep properly. He was under severe strain to complete work assigned as part of the SIR exercise," Saiju, George's brother-in-law, told reporters.

Kerala BLO Suicide Stirs Political Row

Leader of the Opposition VD Satheesan stated that a preliminary investigation has revealed the need to examine the possible role of CPI(M) workers in the suicide of George. "We came to know that George was threatened after a Congress booth-level agent accompanied him for enumeration," Satheesan stated.

Alleging that the BJP and CPI(M) were trying to keep Congress voters from the electoral roll, he said, "While the BJP is implementing SIR with ill intent, CPI(M) is carrying it forward in Kerala. We will oppose it strongly, legally and politically."

Did CPI (M) Threaten George?

Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Sunny Joseph revealed that a phone call made by George before his death clearly showed he was threatened by CPI(M) workers for helping Congress booth-level agents during the voter list enumeration process.

"The conversation revealed that CPI(M) threatened to file a false complaint against George, accusing him of distributing Congress pamphlets at houses. Apart from work strain, this political threat led to his suicide," Joseph alleged.

CPI(M) Denies Threat Allegation

"Only the Congress can say such things. It is a totally fake allegation. Nothing like that happened,” CPI(M) leader EP Jayarajan said.

“They told us he had a severe workload, and there was no political party intervention. You should not give importance to the substandard allegations of the Congress,” he said.

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Kerala SIR BLO Death: IUML Moves SC

The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) has decided to move the Supreme Court seeking a postponement of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list. IUML national leader PK Kunhalikutty said the SIR process is being done in too much haste, creating serious doubts about its fairness and purpose.

 

 

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