From house construction to the marriage of their children — for five families in Uttar Pradesh, the men who were to oversee these plans to fruition will never do so. The five home guards, aged between 50 and 55 years, were among the nine who died due to suspected heat strokes during election duty in Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh, between May 30 and May 31. The mercury hit a maximum of 46 degrees Celsius and 45 degrees Celsius on May 30 and May 31, respectively, in Mirzapur.
In the seven-phase Lok Sabha election, which started on April 19, 2024, the maximum home guard deaths across India due to the heat were reported from Mirzapur — nine. While their families do not suspect foul play, most blame the district administration for not even providing coolers at their arranged accommodation despite the sweltering heat.
Dr C L Verma, Chief Medical Officer, Mirzapur, told The Indian Express that a committee headed by Dr Raj Bahadur Kamal, the principal of Mirzapur’s Vindhyavasini Autonomous State Medical College (also known as Government Medical College), had concluded heat stroke as the cause of these deaths. Dr Kamal was unavailable for a comment.
Stifling heat inside the bus
On May 31, a bus with 28 home guards stopped outside a primary school in Mirzapur. While everyone else disembarked from the stifling vehicle, Shyam Sunder Garg, 52, from Banda’s Punahur village, stayed put. Moments later, when two home guards went back inside, Shyam — who was “well and talking to everyone” earlier that morning” — was discovered burning up and shivering in his seat.
He was rushed to a nearby hospital, which referred him to Varanasi, around 60 km away. A local police officer was sent to his Banda house to ask his family to leave for Varanasi “immediately”. In Varanasi, around 250 km away, the family was informed that Shyam had died around 8.30 pm during treatment. He is survived by his wife and their two teenage sons.
“His death was a shock for us. He was a home guard for 30 years and had been on duty during many local and state elections in all weather conditions. He had plans to add another floor to our house this winter,” his wife Manisha Devi, a homemaker, said.
A senior Uttar Pradesh Home Guards Department official told The Indian Express, “The state currently has 77,000 home guards. Since no new appointments have been made in nearly a decade, almost every home guard was on election duty this time. A home guard typically gets Rs 900 per day for poll duty.”
Home guard Arun Kumar Srivastav, 52, from Gonda’s Badagaon, also died on election duty in Mirzapur. He and his colleagues had arrived in Mirzapur on May 30, after their duty in Gonda, almost 300 km away. Though the administration had arranged for their stay at a local primary school, there were “no coolers despite the heat”.
In the afternoon on May 30, Arun, “who had just started taking blood pressure medication”, was rushed to a hospital after he complained of uneasiness but he died during treatment. He is survived by his wife and their two sons.
His son Sugandh Saurabh told The Indian Express, “He wanted to get me married after the elections. Now that I am responsible for the family, I will quit my private job in Delhi and move to Gonda. I will also not turn down a home guard job on compassionate grounds.”
‘Lack of proper arrangements’
Home guard Satya Prakash Pandey, 53, was taken to a hospital after he fell unconscious in the bus taking them to a Mirzapur polling station on May 31. He too died during treatment. According to his brother-in-law who was on duty with him in Mirzapur, Satya Prakash was “absolutely fine” in the morning on May 31. He is survived by his wife and their two sons.
His son Parmatma Prakash said his father had complained about the “lack of proper arrangements” at their Mirzapur accommodation during their conversation on May 31. “Besides getting me married, he also had plans to finalise the construction of our house,” he added.
Home guard Shyam Sunder Singh, 53, from Rae Bareli’s Lalganj, started feeling unwell and collapsed while on election duty in Mirzapur on May 31. He was declared dead on arrival at the hospital. He is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter.
His daughter Shalini said he had mentioned the “oppressive heat” in Mirzapur during their last conversation on May 30. Her brother Sachin added, “He had been saving for years to build a house since we live on rent. He also had plans to get Shalini married. With his death, I am responsible for the family now. I feel overwhelmed,” he said, adding that he would readily accept a home guard job on compassionate grounds.
Home guard Ramjiyawan Yadav, 55, from Gonda’s Sambhari village too died in Mirzapur on May 31. His family claimed that after he arrived there on May 30, he had requested the authorities to make “better arrangements” due to the intense heat. Ramjiyawan started feeling uneasy while being dropped off at the polling polling station by bus in the afternoon on May 31. He lost consciousness an hour later and died at the hospital two hours later. He is survived by his wife, two sons and two daughters.
His son Ram Bihari, 38, who runs a tea stall, said, “My father loved his job because of the respect it brought him within the community. He had plans to renovate the house this winter. We don’t know what to do now.”
Shyam Sunder Garg, Ramjiyawan Yadav, Arun Kumar Srivastav, Shyam Sunder Singh and Satya Prakash were among the nine home guards who died due to suspected heat strokes while on election duty in Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh, between May 30 and May 31.
