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EY employee death: Nirmala Sitharaman calls for ‘stress management lessons’; Congress lashes out

Sep 23, 2024 08:48 AM IST

According to the finance minister, the strength to handle pressure can be achieved through divinity.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday, in an apparent reference to the recent death of a young CA professional employed with Ernest and Young (EY), called for “stress management lessons” in colleges and universities. The Congress later slammed her for her remark.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman

Addressing an event at a college in Chennai, Sitharaman said that even if educational institutions impart good education and ensure jobs to students through campus recruitment, they should teach certain things, along with education, that are taught in the family.

“I was discussing an issue that has been in newspapers for the past two days. Our children go to colleges and universities for education and come out with flying colours. A company, without mentioning its name, its a partnership. There, a woman who had studied CA well, unable to cope with the work pressure, three days ago, we received news--she died, unable to cope with the pressure,” she said.

According to the finance minister, the strength to handle pressure can be achieved through divinity.

Also read: EY employee death: Rahul Gandhi speaks with Anna's parents, says ‘I promised…’

“Believe in God, we need to have God's grace. Seek God, and learn good discipline. Your Atma shakti will grow only from this. The inner strength will come only with growing Atma shakti…Educational institutions should bring in divinity and spirituality. Then only will our children get the inner strength. It will help in their progress and the country. That is my strong belief,” she added.

Congress lashes out

Sitharaman's remarks received a massive backlash from the Congress party.

“The ruling regime and the finance minister can only see the pain of corporate giants like Adani and Ambani, not the pain of the hardworking and toiling young generation where freshers like Anna are exploited by the greedy corporate system if they even succeed in getting a job in this era of historic joblessness,” Congress general secretary (Organisation), K C Venugopal, wrote in a post on X.

According to the Congress leader, it is “downright cruel” on the finance minister's part to blame Anna and her family and for suggesting that she should have learnt stress management at home.

Also read: 'Human rights…at workplace': Shashi Tharoor reacts to EY Pune employee Anna Sebastian Perayil's death

“This kind of victim blaming is despicable, and no words can convey the anger and disgust one feels because of such statements. How heartless can this government be? Have they lost all sense of empathy?” he questioned.

“The parents are still recovering from this terrible tragedy. The toxic work environment should have triggered an honest review of corporate practices and led to necessary reforms that protect employees,” Venugopal added.

EY employee's death

Anna Sebastian Perayil, a chartered accountant (CA) from Kerala who worked at EY Pune, died of cardiac arrest on June 20 following excessive workload and poor work culture at the company - as alleged by her mother. In an open letter, Anna's mother detailed her daughter's struggles with anxiety, sleeplessness, and stress due to an overwhelming workload, citing instances where her manager prioritised work over employee well-being.

According to her mother, Anna, who worked at EY's Pune for four months as part of the Audit team at S R Batliboi, a member firm of EY Global, also worked late into the night and on weekends. She returned to her PG accommodation completely exhausted on most days, her mother claimed.

Following an uproar over the incident, the Centre stepped in to say that it will investigate the work environment at Big Four accounting firm EY.

“Be it a white collar job or any worker, whenever a citizen of the country dies, it is natural to be saddened by it. The matter is being investigated, and action will be taken based on whatever facts are revealed in the investigation,” union minister of labour and employment, Mansukh Mandaviya, said.

(With inputs from ANI)

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