Two teachers serving as Booth Level Officers died in Madhya Pradesh's Raisen and Damoh districts on November 21, 2025, with families attributing the deaths to intense workload from a voter list survey. Relatives allege excessive pressure and sleepless nights led to the tragedies. A third BLO remains missing in Raisen.
In Madhya Pradesh, two teachers doubling as Booth Level Officers (BLOs) for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists succumbed to illness on Friday, November 21, 2025, amid claims of overwhelming work pressure from their kin.
Ramakant Pandey, a teacher from Satlapur in Raisen district, died late that night after collapsing following an online meeting around 9:30 p.m. on Thursday. He was rushed to Noble Hospital in Bhopal and later to AIIMS, where he was declared dead. His wife, Rekha Pandey, told officials that Pandey had not slept for four nights due to the heavy workload at the primary school in Tilakhedi, where he handled voter enumeration duties in Mandideep. "He feared suspension if targets were unmet and had not slept for the past four nights," she claimed, adding that he received constant phone instructions to meet deadlines.
Sub-divisional officer Chandrashekhar Shrivastava confirmed Pandey died of some illness, pending a postmortem report, and noted that the family would receive assistance and a compassionate appointment per rules.
In Damoh district, Sitaram Gond, 50, a teacher and BLO in Ranjra village, fell ill on Thursday evening, November 20, while filling enumeration forms. District Education Officer S.K. Nema said Gond was taken to the district hospital and referred to Jabalpur, where he died during treatment Friday night. Friends reported Gond was under pressure to cover 1,319 voters across Ranjra and Kuda Kudan villages but had completed only 13% of the work.
Separately, Narayan Das Soni, another BLO and teacher from Bhavya City in Raisen, has been missing for six days since leaving home without notice. Police and family are searching for him.
This incident echoes an earlier case in Damoh where BLO Shyam Sundar Sharma died in a road accident, with his family blaming SIR-related stress and threats of suspension.