Bidar, 5 July

Serious allegations have emerged that the excessive pressure being imposed on lower-level government employees in the name of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral has led to the death of three government employees – Bhuvana, Nataraj, and Sunil – across Karnataka, triggering widespread outrage among Revenue Department staff and Booth Level Officers (BLOs).

26-year-old Village Administrative Officer(VAO) Bhuvana, who was serving under Goolur Gram Panchayat, died in a road accident on Saturday morning when a lorry hit her motorcycle while she was rushing to carry out SIR-related work.

Nataraj, who was serving as a BLO in the Bengaluru South Assembly constituency, suffered a fatal heart attack, reportedly after working until late at night to complete the mandatory SIR targets.

Sunil, 45, a BLO, died of a heart attack while conducting the SIR survey in Amalapur village of Bidar district. The deceased had reportedly been engaged in SIR work continuously for several days without adequate rest. A case has been registered at the Gandhigunj Police Station in connection with the incident.

Employee unions have alleged that the house-to-house data collection under the SIR process has become a nightmare for lower-level staff. They claim that senior officials are exerting tremendous pressure to complete the exercise within strict deadlines and demanding targets be met at any cost.

Revenue Department employees have launched an indefinite round-the-clock protest outside the Tumakuru Deputy Commissioner's office, condemning excessive workload and alleged harassment.