EY employee death: Rahul assures Anna's parents to fight for improving working conditions

New Delhi, Sep 21 (PTI) Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Saturday spoke with the parents of Anna Sebastian Perayil, who died due to alleged extreme work pressure at Ernst & Young, and assured them that he will fight for the cause of improving working conditions for the millions of professionals in India.

Gandhi spoke with Anna Sebastian's parents via a video call arranged by the Chairman of All India Professionals' Congress (AIPC) Praveen Chakravarty who visited their home in Kochi.

"I spoke with the heartbroken parents of Anna Sebastian, a bright and ambitious young professional whose life was tragically cut short by toxic and unforgiving work conditions," Gandhi said in a post on X.

In the face of unimaginable grief, Anna's mother has shown remarkable courage and selflessness, turning her personal loss into a powerful plea for safer and fairer workplaces for all, he said.

"I have promised Anna's family my personal commitment, along with the full support of the Congress party, to ensure that this tragedy becomes a catalyst for change," Gandhi said.

He also shared the video of his call with the parents.

In the video, Anna's mother is seen telling Gandhi that her daughter would be dead tired on returning from her job and had no time for her personal life.

"Only in India children are subjected to such torture. If it is outside India will they ask their employees to work like this. They say we have achieved freedom in 1947 but our children are still working like slaves. Why is it happening in our country like this?" she said.

The Leader of Opposition assured the parents of raising the issue in Parliament.

He offered his sympathies at Anna's sudden and tragic demise and lauded the family's courage and selflessness to speak up at this extremely difficult moment about this issue in the larger interest of improving working conditions for the millions of professionals in India, a statement issued by the AIPC said.

Gandhi assured them that he will fight for this cause in his capacity as the Leader of the Opposition, it said.

He also instructed the AIPC Chairman to create an awareness movement in Anna's memory for all working professionals in India.

"Following Gandhi's instructions, AIPC will announce a helpline soon to collect information from corporate professionals about issues related to work stress and toxic work culture. Post which, AIPC will seek to come up with draft guidelines for better working conditions for professionals in the corporate sector," the statement said.

In a post on X last night, senior Congress leader and former AIPC Chairman Shashi Tharoor said he had a deeply emotional and heartrending conversation with Sibi Joseph, the father of Anna Sebastian who passed away after a cardiac arrest following four months of deeply stressful seven-day weeks of 14 hours a day at Ernst & Young.

"He suggested, and I agreed, that I raise the issue of legislating, through Parliament, a fixed calendar for all workplaces, whether in the private sector or the public, that would not exceed eight hours a day, five days a week. Inhumanity at the workplace must be legislated out of existence with stringent punishment and fines for offenders. Human rights do not stop at the workplace!" Tharoor said.

"Will raise this matter at the first opportunity during the next session of Parliament," Tharoor said.

Anna was a 26-year-old chartered accountant (CA) who died allegedly due to extreme work pressure at the firm.

EY on Wednesday had issued a statement stating, "We are deeply saddened by Anna Sebastian's tragic and untimely passing in July 2024." Since the death, EY has been in touch with the family, helping them but it is only now that her family has chosen to write to the company, complaining about the "excessive workload", it had said.

EY has said it will continue to improve and provide a healthy workplace in its offices throughout the country.

The Ministry of Labour & Employment is investigating an alleged "unsafe and exploitative work environment", days after the tragic demise of Anna Sebastian Perayil who worked with S R Batliboi, a member firm of EY Global. PTI