New Delhi:

Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Saturday spoke with the parents of Anna Sebastian Perayil, the 26-year-old Ernst & Young employee who died allegedly due to extreme work pressure. Over a video call, he offered them his sympathies and said he will ensure the tragedy becomes a catalyst for change.

“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,” wrote Mr Gandhi in an online post, sharing a video of their conversation.

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.

In the face of unimaginable grief, Anna’s mother has shown remarkable courage and selflessness, turning… pic.twitter.com/XY9PXbYAIK

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) September 21, 2024

He also praised Anna’s mother for showing “remarkable courage and selflessness” and speaking up despite personal loss in the larger interest of improving working conditions of professionals.

During their conversation, Mr Gandhi asked Anna’s parents how the atmosphere was at her workplace – “Was it very toxic? What was going on?”

Her mother replied with a “yes”.

“She (Anna) used to always say that they had very long working hours. They have to work continuously. Night, Saturday, Sunday. No restrictions. Children are made to work like that. Mainly the young employees, new ones. She had no time even for her personal things,” she said while sobbing on the video call.

“She called me every night and she would say ‘Amma, I can’t speak, I’m dead tired. I am going to sleep.’ Even when she came back from office, she just (used to) drop on her bed. So exhausted,” she added.

Anna’s mother went on to say that children are subjected to torture and made to “work like slaves”.

“Rahul ji, what I have to say is, 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 received freedom in 1947, but our children are still working like slaves. Even now they are working like slaves. Children who study so hard to reach where they are, being put through so much slavery, why? Why are our children made to suffer like this?” she added.

Mr Gandhi asked them if they want him to raise the issue in parliament. They said yes.

“We are fully with you. However we can support your cause, we are happy to do it,” he said, assuring Anna’s parents that he will fight for this cause in his capacity as the Leader of the Opposition.

Anna Perayil, a Chartered Accountant from Kerala who worked at EY India, died allegedly due to work-related stress, sparking a nationwide debate over work-life balance and corporate accountability.

In a statement on Wednesday, EY said that it is deeply saddened by Anna’s untimely death and that it will continue to improve and provide a healthy workplace in its offices across the country.

The Union Labour Ministry has begun a probe into the circumstances that led to the EY employee’s death.

New Delhi:

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.

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

He offered his sympathies at Anna’s sudden and tragic death and praised 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.

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

Mr Gandhi 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 died 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!” Mr Tharoor said.

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

Perayil 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.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)