Nirmala Sitharaman comments on the death of an EY employee

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, seemingly referring to the recent death of a woman working at Ernst & Young (EY) India, called on colleges and universities to include stress management in their curricula. This initiative is intended to reduce student stress and improve emotional resilience. Sitharaman noted that the employee’s death resulted from her struggle to cope with workplace pressure, a comment that faced strong criticism from Congress, who accused the Minister of “victim-blaming.”

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Tragic Death of EY Employee Sparks Debate on Workplace Pressure and Mental Health

Sitharaman’s remarks came after the tragic death of Anna Sebastian Perayil, a 26-year-old Chartered Accountant employed by Ernst & Young (EY), one of the Big Four accounting firms. Perayil, who passed her CA exams in 2023, had only been working at EY’s Pune office for four months before her untimely passing in July. This incident has highlighted the challenging work conditions in certain professional sectors, prompting discussions about employee well-being and mental health.

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Finance Minister Highlights Work Pressure Concerns Following Tragic Incident

Addressing the gathering, the Finance Minister stated, “…was discussing about an issue that is on newspapers for the past two days. Our children go to colleges and universities for education and come out in 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, two-three days ago we received a news — she died, unable to cope up with the pressure,” news agency PTI reported.