Kolkata, Dec. 4 -- Tension erupted outside the State Election Commission (SEC) office on Thursday afternoon when members of the BLO Rights Protection Committee attempted to force their way in after breaching police barricades.

A scuffle broke out between the protesters and police as officers tried to stop them, though the situation was brought under control shortly thereafter.

For the past few days, members of the committee have been staging a sit-in outside the Chief Electoral Officer's office. Since morning, they had been shouting slogans and holding placards, demanding more time to complete the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process "in a flawless manner". They also sought compensation for families of those who allegedly died due to work pressure during the SIR exercise and a government job for one family member of each deceased BLO.

"We have been demanding compensation for quite some time, but the Election Commission has remained unperturbed," said an agitator.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has already announced a financial package for 39 persons, including BLOs who died during the ongoing SIR exercise and 13 who have been hospitalised. The next of kin of deceased BLOs will receive Rs 2 lakh, while those hospitalised will get Rs 1 lakh each.

Family members of Namita Hansda, the BLO of Booth No. 278 at Chowk Balarampur in Memari, East Burdwan-who died of a brain stroke last month-were present at the protest. They alleged that excessive work pressure led to her death. Relatives of other BLOs who have fallen ill were also in attendance.

While a delegation was eventually allowed inside to submit a deputation, chaos continued outside as protesters demanded security, mental-health support and compensation for both deceased and ailing BLOs.

"We have not come here for alms; we are pressing for justified demands. BLOs are being subjected to mental torture," said agitator CK Singh, warning that the agitation would continue if their demands

were not met.

The CEO's office said that once post-mortem and police reports of the deceased BLOs are available, they will be forwarded to the Election Commission of India along with the compensation request.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.