West Bengal BLO Death | Who is Shantimoni Ekka? | A woman Booth Level Officer (BLO) in Malbazar, Jalpaiguri district, West Bengal was found dead on Wednesday morning. The deceased, identified as Shantimoni Ekka, was discovered hanging in her courtyard, triggering fresh concerns over the overwhelming pressures of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list in West Bengal. The preliminary probe hints at a possible suicide.
Her family has alleged that Shantimoni had been struggling with heavy workload and mental stress linked to SIR duties.
The SIR process requires BLOs to distribute and collect voter forms door-to-door, in addition to their standard fieldwork. Officials have acknowledged that the timeline for the revision drive is extremely tight, making the workload especially difficult to manage.
According to state authorities, the pressure on BLOs during this accelerated voter-list revision has become intense and, in some cases, unmanageable.
28 Deaths Reported Since SIR Began, Says Mamata Banerjee
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed shock and grief over the incident. In a post on X, she said that 28 individuals—including BLOs and anganwadi workers—have died since the revision exercise began.
Calling the pressure “inhuman,” Banerjee alleged that the Election Commission compressed a three-year voter revision process into just two months “to please political masters.”
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She urged the Commission to reduce the burden on BLOs immediately and to halt the ongoing drive to prevent further deaths.
Deeply shocked and saddened.
Today again, we lost a Booth Level Officer in Mal, Jalpaiguri — Smt Shanti Muni Ekka, a tribal lady, an anganwadi worker who took her own life under the unbearable pressure of the ongoing SIR work.
28 people have already lost their lives since SIR…
— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) November 19, 2025
Authorities Visit Family; Police Begin Probe
Local officials and state Minister for Backward Classes Welfare, Bulu Chik Baraik, visited the bereaved family and assured support. Police have recovered the body and sent it for post-mortem examination.
The incident has reignited debates on the safety and working conditions of frontline election staff.
Reports of similar incidents in other states have brought national attention to the pressures of the voter-revision exercise. Although the Election Commission has previously stated that administrative lapses would be addressed, it has not publicly responded to the rising concerns over workload and staff well-being.
The tragedy has deepened the ongoing debate over the administrative burden placed on BLOs, the pace of electoral roll revisions, and the Election Commission’s responsibility to protect its ground-level workforce.
