The sudden death of a 42-year-old government employee while on election-related duty has reignited concerns over mounting work pressure on staff involved in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Uttar Pradesh.
Dushyant Singh Bedi, a senior assistant with the Uttar Pradesh Irrigation Department, collapsed after complaining of acute chest pain while discharging his duties as a Booth Level Officer (BLO) at a local school on Tuesday. He was rushed to the district hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival.
Colleagues said Bedi had been under immense stress due to tight deadlines and continuous fieldwork linked to the SIR exercise. “Employees are working day and night. People are unable to attend even family funerals,” said Amit Sharma, district president of the UP Rajya Karmchari Mahasangh, a government employees’ association. He questioned whether the administration would now step in to support Bedi’s children.
A family left without support
Bedi was the sole breadwinner of his family. He lost his wife eight years ago and is survived by his elderly mother and two young children, aged 12 and 8. Those close to the family said his responsibilities at home and increasing official workload had taken a heavy toll on his health.
Administration rejects stress linkage
Saharanpur District Magistrate Manish Bansal stated that the official died of natural causes and cautioned against linking the death to SIR-related duties. He said the administration was extending full support to BLOs and that the revision work was progressing smoothly.
Pattern of concern across the state
Incidentally, more than ten BLOs or assistants across Uttar Pradesh have died since the SIR exercise began last year, due to causes ranging from heart attacks to suicides and haemorrhages. In several cases, families have cited severe work pressure and constant deadline stress as contributing factors.
The incident has once again raised questions about workload management, employee welfare, and the human cost of large-scale administrative exercises.