Bhojpur (Bihar): In the Bhojpur district of Bihar, the pressure of Special Intensive Review (SIR)-related work allegedly resulted in the tragic death of a teacher. Rajendra Prasad, a 59-year-old headmaster and Booth Level Officer (BLO) supervisor at SB School located in Maulabagh, Arrah, succumbed to a cardiac arrest on August 27. His family asserts that being constantly reprimanded by senior officials, the pressure to compile the voter list and the escalating workload contributed to his death. He had merely four months remaining until his retirement.Prasad’s 28-year-old son Ashish Raj turned emotional as he recalled, “I usually used to drop him to school. But on August 23, I had gone to Banaras to take an exam. He was rushed to a local hospital where the doctor referred him to Patna IGIMS. Unfortunately, the hospital was extremely crowded. As a result, the family decided to transfer him to a private hospital where he was placed in the ICU.”Prasad was going to retire on December 31 this year.Ashish mentioned that his father frequently received calls from senior officials. “He was requested to come to the block and provide clarification regarding his work. Following that, his health began to decline. He could not withstand the pressure from his superiors.”Prasad’s elder daughter, 26-year-old Deepshikha, told The Wire, “I was visiting Papa at his school when someone informed him over the phone that if he did not arrive at the office within five minutes, he would be dismissed. Papa responded that he was working and asked why they were speaking to him in that manner. After that call, Papa got very scared. From that day onwards, he started keeping quiet.”The special intensive revision of voter rolls carried out by the Election Commission has placed considerable pressure not only on the voters but also on BLOs and BLO supervisors. The constant stress and workload significantly affected Prasad’s health.Prasad’s wife Anarkali, 58, said, “He never discussed his work at home. But ever since the process of SIR began, he had become extremely stressed. Over the past two months, whenever we talked, he used to respond in an irritated manner which was unusual for him, as he typically never used to be angry.”Prasad, a resident of Ganj village, about 40 km from the Bhojpur district headquarters, started working as a teacher in 1997. His initial posting was in Nokha, followed by postings in Bihiya and subsequently in Arrah. Anarkali told The Wire, “I used to live in a rented accommodation in Patna for the sake of the children’s education, while he remained in the village.”Their youngest daughter Kalpana Rani, who holds a postgraduate degree in physics, said, “I last spoke to Papa on August 16. I informed him that I had cleared the pre-PhD examination at Veer Kunwar Singh University. He expressed joy, but we could not talk much. At that time, he was quite occupied with the responsibilities of SIR.”“When I visited him in the ICU, he had lost his voice,” Kalpana continued. As per the family, he had lost his voice by August 24.The late Rajendra Prasad’s wife Anarkali (second from left) and their children. Photo: Special arrangementPrasad’s 65-year-old sister, Shanti Devi, remarked, “He had become so engrossed in election duties that whenever I called him, he always hastily ended the conversation saying he had work to do.”Deepshikha noted, “Papa would visit occasionally visit us in Patna, but for the past two and a half months, he had been unable to come due to his hectic schedule.”“No representatives from the education department, block or district administration came to check on us. We received no form of compensation. Only his colleagues from the school came to visit us,” said Anarkali.Arrah Sadar block development officer Ravi Ranjan disagreed with the family’s allegation that Prasad had been reprimanded. He told The Wire, “I never reprimanded him. Had he told us about his health concerns, we would not have assigned him any work.”District education officer Manvendra told The Wire, “I was unaware of the news regarding Rajendra Prasad’s passing. I learned about it only after you informed me.”Teja Bahadur, a retired teacher and Prasad’s cousin, said that others too find themselves in similar situations because of the SIR. “The health of BLOs is declining due to SIR work. It is inappropriate to undertake such a significant task in such a limited time frame. BLOs are subjected to meetings and pressure continuously.”Ashish insisted that work pressure played a role in Prasad’s death. “SIR work was the cause of my father’s death. The pressure of work imposed by senior officers impacts the lowest-level employees, adversely affecting their lives,” he alleged.Several BLOs, on the condition of anonymity, told The Wire that the workload has been intolerable. “Meetings are scheduled with just ten minutes’ notice. Regardless of floods and poor road conditions, one must reach on time, or else get scolded. Such a situation adversely affects health as well. Family members also complain about the paucity of time for them and lack of attention.”A majority of BLOs spoke only on the condition that their identity is not revealed. One BLO remarked, “The SDO madam has directed us not to engage with the media.”BLO Sanoj Kumar of Sonpur block of Saran district said, “There was a lot of stress during the SIR. We had to work amid floods too. Additionally, there was pressure from the officers. This period also increased family tensions.”A BLO, on the condition of anonymity, said, “Despite working at a prestigious post of a teacher, at the age of 50-55, we have to endure criticism from senior officers.”BLO Raju Kumar from the Sahar block of Bhojpur district said, “Initially, when 11 documents were sought, the voters began to protest. There was a limited amount of time. The voters believed that the BLO was responsible for adding and removing names, whereas in reality, he merely follows the laid out process.”Translated from the Hindi original by Naushin Rehman.As the election process comes under scrutiny, read The Wire’s coverage of the Bihar SIR, opposition’s allegations and more, here