Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Saturday spoke to the parents of 26-year-old Anna Sebastian Perayil, a Chartered Accountant with Ernst and Young (EY) India, who allegedly died due to work-related stress, and assured them all possible help for their fight for justice for their daughter.
‘Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi spoke to the parents of Anna Sebastian on Saturday via a video call arranged by the Chairman of All India Professionals’ Congress (AIPC) Praveen Chakravarty during his visit to their home in Kochi (Kerala),” the AIPC said here on Saturday.
During his conversation, the senior Congress leader 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.
Perayil’s mother, Anita Augustine, has reportedly written a letter to the company’s chairman and blamed “backbreaking work” for her death.
Gandhi assured them that he would personally fight for this cause in his capacity as the Leader of the Opposition in the Lower House of the Parliament.
He instructed the AIPC Chairman to create an awareness movement in her memory for all working professionals in the country.
“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, it will seek to come up with draft guidelines for better working conditions for professionals in the corporate sector,” the AIPC said.
Earlier, Union Minister of State for Labour Shobha Karandlaje, in a post on X wrote, “Deeply saddened by the tragic loss of Anna Sebastian Perayil. A thorough investigation into the allegations of an unsafe and exploitative work environment is underway.”
“We are committed to ensuring justice and the Labour Ministry has officially taken up the complaint,” she said.