UP: School principal on SIR duty dies of heart attack

Aligarh: A 59-year-old primary school principal on booth-level officer (BLO) duty for the ongoing revision of electoral rolls in Aligarh district died of a heart attack, her family and education department officials said on Friday.

The deceased, Sadhna Verma, who was nearing retirement, died at her home on Thursday.

She had been deployed for the special intensive revision (SIR) exercise since it began on November 4.

Her family said she had completed all her BLO duties in Haivatpur Fagoi village in Koli tehsil within the stipulated time “without any issue”.

Her son, Chetan, alleged that Verma had been under “intense pressure for a long period” though not because of her BLO responsibilities.

“Her problems were not related to her work as a BLO, but due to the harassment she faced from her vice-principal and some officials of the state education department who troubled her on every possible pretext,” he claimed.

He further claimed his mother had not received her salary for five months despite repeatedly following up with officials, which had caused her severe stress.