A very sad incident has come to light in Kodinar of Gir Somnath district of Gujarat which has shocked the education world. Booth Level Officer (BLO) and teacher Arvindbhai Vadher committed suicide due to unbearable burden of work and mental stress related to SIR and elections.

He committed suicide by hanging himself on Friday (21 November). A suicide note has also been found from the deceased. He has mentioned SIR in the suicide note and cited this as the reason behind giving up his life. He has written that he is tired of working in SIR.

The suicide of teacher Vadher, a resident of Deoli village of Kodinar and working in Chhara Kanya Primary School, has created a stir in the entire area. Arvindbhai Vadher was working as a teacher since 2010 and was recently assigned the work of BLO (Booth Level Officer). In the suicide note, he has written that he was tired of working in SIR and he took this step due to the extreme mental stress caused by it.

What did the BLO write in the suicide note?

He has written a suicide note addressed to his wife. In the suicide note found from the teacher, it is clearly written, “I will no longer be able to do this work of SIR.” I am tired of working at SIR. You take care of yourself and your son. I love both of you very much, but now I am very helpless.

Serious questions on education system and administration

This incident has raised serious questions on the education system of the state. Instead of teaching, teachers are continuously engaged in non-academic work, especially BLO work, which is having a negative impact on the work of education. Presently the situation is that, ‘Children look for teachers, teachers look for voters and voters look for names in the voter list.’

2 teachers died in last three days

It is noteworthy that this is the second incident in the state in the last three days, in which a teacher has died due to the workload of the BLO. The death of two teachers in three days has increased the pressure on the system from teachers unions and political parties of the state. There is a lot of anger among teachers against the work of BLO.