Moradabad: Sleepless nights, mounting pressure and a desperate struggle to meet voter-list revision targets ended in tragedy on Sunday when Booth Level Officer (BLO) and assistant teacher Survesh Singh ended his life. His emotional suicide note, filled with fear and helplessness, has triggered outrage among teachers deployed on election duty across the district.
The 42-year-old father of four daughters wrote that despite working day and night, he could not complete the Special Summary Revision (SIR) assigned to him. “My family encouraged me but I failed. I feel very scared… I am suffocating,” he wrote. “I like my staff. I am sorry.”
Survesh, posted at the composite school in Zahidpur Seekampur under Bhagatpur Tanda block, had been made a BLO for the first time in his 15-year career. In the suicide note addressed to the Basic Shiksha Adhikari and District Election Officer, he said he could not sleep more than two to three hours each night and his mental health had deteriorated.
On Saturday night, after his relatives helped him feed data into the system, Survesh went to his room to rest but never returned. Around 4 am, his wife found him missing. The family searched and eventually discovered him hanging in a cattle shed near their home in Bahedi Brahmanan under Bhojpur police station. He was taken to multiple private hospitals, where doctors declared him dead.
Police recovered a three-page note from the spot. The post-mortem later confirmed death by hanging. District officials said a probe has been launched. The death triggered protests outside the post-mortem house, where women blocked the road demanding accountability from officials they believe imposed unbearable pressure on BLOs. Teachers too gathered in large numbers, expressing grief and anger over what they called “inhuman expectations” under election duties.
Many BLOs in Moradabad say residents often refuse to cooperate during verification and required old records are missing, particularly in rural areas. They said they fear official reprimand if targets are not met and must work late into the night after school hours. Women staff members said they face misbehaviour while visiting households alone.
Technical issues with the mobile application and shortage of manpower are also adding to the chaos, they said.
“This is not an isolated case. We are working until midnight, balancing teaching and BLO duty. Our mental and personal lives have collapsed,” said one teacher deployed as a BLO in the district.
Survesh’s final wishes were written with a trembling hand: that his family not be blamed and his wife receive his dues for the welfare of their daughters.
But teachers say the deepest question remains unanswered: how many more will pay with their lives before the system acknowledges the stress it forces onto those working on the ground?