The death of a 26-year-old village administration official who was involved in the special intensive review of electoral rolls in Karnataka has sparked overnight protests by revenue department employees, who alleged that officials entrusted with the process were working under excessive administrative pressure.
Bufana, a village administrative officer and supervisor of stall level officers, died on Saturday after her scooter was hit by a truck on Kunigal Road near Guluru in Tumakuru district, according to officials. A resident of Varadhanayakanhalli village in Bengaluru’s Nelamangala taluk rural area suffered serious head injuries and later died at Siddaganga Hospital, officials said.
Her death prompted revenue department staff to the Tumakuru deputy commissioner’s office, where they staged a protest that continued until late Saturday night. The protesters demanded transfer of District Collector Shobha Kalyan and accused senior officials of placing unreasonable demands on employees participating in the SIR exercise.
Bhuvana’s uncle Ramesh said she attended the SIR review meeting at the deputy commissioner’s office on Friday before returning home at around 10 pm. The next morning, I left at around 6.30am to resume field work when the collision occurred.
“She was under pressure. She said she was quitting her job. In fact, we were planning to arrange her marriage. There are no fixed working hours. They were forced to work without looking at their personal lives. There were too many responsibilities on one person’s shoulders,” Ramesh said.
The Karnataka Village Administrative Officers Association linked the incident to what it described as the intense work demands associated with the electoral audit programme.
Bhuvana was traveling from Bengaluru to Tumakuru early in the morning for SIR duties, General Secretary Shivanand Nayak said. “We have been protesting here since yesterday. VAO Bhuvana, who was working in Tumakuru area, was coming from Bengaluru at 6 am to work at SIR under pressure from DC, Tehsildar and AC. While traveling on two wheels at such an early hour to reach work, she was hit by an unknown car,” Nayak said. She died in the hospital.”
The incident came at a time when another death was reported of an official in charge of the same electoral review process in Bidar district.
According to people familiar with the matter, Sunil, a 45-year-old teacher from Bhakki town who was deployed for SIR duty, suffered a heart attack. He reportedly collapsed while at work on Thursday and was taken to Bidar Institute of Medical Sciences, where family members said doctors told them he had suffered a heart attack. He died on Friday.
Congress leader FH Jakappannavar referred to Bhuvana’s death while questioning the necessity of the SIR exercise, terming the program unnecessary.
“RSS and BJP imposed SIR in Karnataka. It was not required at all. Bhuvana, a development officer, met with an accident while working and died. I request all BLOs; it is a duty imposed by the Election Commission of the central government of India. We are with Bhuvan’s family and the government should provide compensation to the family,” Jakappanavar said.
