Supreme Court to hear plea against forcing Tamil Nadu Anganwadi workers into BLO work under threat of punishment, job loss

The Supreme Court of India connected Monday (December 1, 2025) took superior enactment of a plea that Anganwadi workers are being pushed into Booth Level Officer (BLO) enactment for the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) workout successful Tamil Nadu nether the menace of imprisonment and nonaccomplishment of jobs.

Appearing earlier a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, elder advocator Gopal Sankaranarayanan, for Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), said Anganwadi workers were nether “severe pressure” to attain “targets” successful the organisation of enumeration forms for the SIR.

Mr. Sankaranarayanan said the Anganwadi unit thrust into the SIR were threatened with 3 months’ imprisonment nether Section 32 of the Representation of the People Act of 1950 for the breach of authoritative work successful transportation with the preparation, etc, of electoral rolls” if their targets were not met. They would besides suffer their jobs.

“There person already been 21 instances of BLOs taking their ain lives,” the elder counsel submitted

Chief Justice Kant said the contented would beryllium taken up separately erstwhile the batch of petitions challenging the Tamil Nadu SIR came up for proceeding aboriginal during the week.

“You are saying Anganwadi workers should not beryllium employed successful the SIR exercise…” Chief Justice Kant said.

Mr. Sankaranarayanan said the contented was much quality than legal. He nevertheless informed the tribunal that the enumeration signifier has been extended from December 4 to December 11, 2025.

The plea successful the Supreme Court follows a ailment filed by a Mumbai-based advocator successful the National Human Rights Commission against the “inhuman workload and coercive pressure” imposed connected BLOs during the 2nd signifier of the SIR, resulting successful aggregate cardiac arrests, collapses and deaths.

SIR volition pb to caller elector database successful Tamil Nadu, ECI tells Madras High Court

Deaths of BLOs person been reported successful Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

An earlier petition filed by the ruling enactment of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam successful Tamil Nadu had highlighted the deficiency of owed process arsenic good arsenic the unreasonably abbreviated timeline for the behaviour of SIR successful the State.

“The unilateral imposition of specified an unprecedented, resource‑intensive and socially disruptive process connected a State, without consultation oregon demonstrable administrative exigency, transgresses the national operation of the Constitution, recognised arsenic portion of its basal structure” DMK had pointed out.