Two government employees engaged in Karnataka’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls died within two days, triggering protests by employees’ associations over alleged excessive work pressure.
Forty-five-year-old Sunil, a government school teacher from Bhalki in Bidar district, who suffered a heart attack while on SIR duty, was declared dead on July 3.
A day later, 26-year-old Village Administrative Officer (VAO) Bhuvana was killed in a road accident while travelling for SIR work. Bhuvana, a resident of Varadanayakanahalli village in Nelamangala taluk, Bengaluru Rural district, was working in Tumakuru district as a VAO and supervisor for Booth Level Officers (BLOs).
According to officials, Bhuvana left her home at around 6.30 am on Saturday, July 4, to resume field work after attending an SIR review meeting at the deputy commissioner’s office the previous night. She was riding her scooter on Kunigal Road near Guluru in Tumakuru district when a truck struck her vehicle. She sustained severe head injuries and later died at Siddaganga Hospital.
Her uncle, Ramesh, alleged that she had been under immense work pressure due to the electoral revision exercise.
“She was under pressure. She said she would quit her job. In fact, we were planning to arrange her marriage. There are no fixed working hours. They were made to work without considering their personal life. There were too many responsibilities on a single person,” he said.
Bhuvana’s death sparked overnight protests by revenue department employees outside the Tumakuru deputy commissioner’s office. Protesters accused senior officials of placing unreasonable demands on staff engaged in the SIR exercise and demanded the transfer of Deputy Commissioner Shubha Kalyan.
The Karnataka State Village Administrative Officers Association also linked Bhuvana’s death to the workload associated with the electoral revision programme.
Association general secretary Shivanand Nayak alleged that Bhuvana had been travelling from Bengaluru to Tumakuru early every morning to carry out SIR duties under pressure from senior officials.
“We have been protesting here since yesterday. VAO Bhuvana, who was working in Tumakuru district, was coming from Bengaluru at 6 am for SIR work under pressure from the DC, Tehsildar and AC. While travelling on her two-wheeler at such an early hour to get to work, she was hit by an unknown vehicle. She passed away in the hospital,” Nayak said.
Addressing the protesters, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara acknowledged concerns over the workload and criticised the timeline set for the electoral revision exercise.
“The ECI has put the SIR as a monster before us. It could have given two months to complete the process, but gave just one month,” he said.
Parameshwara assured the protesters that action would be taken if an inquiry found that officials had exerted undue pressure on Bhuvana. He also said the government would consider providing a government job to one of her family members on compassionate grounds and announced a Rs 1 crore insurance payout. Later, he visited Bhuvana’s family at Varadanayakanahalli village in Nelamangala taluk.