Anna Sebastian Death: Shashi Tharoor Says Will Raise Issue In Parliament After Meeting EY Employee's Father

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor advocated for legislation establishing an eight-hour, five-day workweek for all public and private workplaces after meeting father of deceased EY employee.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has said that he will raise the issue of legislating a fixed calendar for all workspaces that would not exceed eight hours a day, five days a week. He commented after he met with the father of the 26-year-old employee at Ersnt&Young who died of cardiac arrest, allegedly due to work stress. 

The Thiruvananthapuram MP called for stringent punishment and fines for offenders and said that the fixed calendar will be aimed at both public and private workspaces. 

"Had a deeply emotional and heartrending conversation with Shri Sibi Joseph, the father of young 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," Tharoor said in a post on X. 

"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," he added. 

"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! Will raise this matter at the first opportunity during the next session of parliament," said the Congress leader. 

Anna Sebastian Perayil's death has sparked outrage over the "toxic work culture" in corporate workspaces in India.

Amid public outcry, the Union Labour Ministry has announced an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of the 26-year-old chartered accountant. 

Earlier, Samajwadi Party MP from Kannauj Akhilesh Yadav also reacted to Anna's death saying every employee, from top to bottom, is under pressure and the main reason for this pressure and tension is the "failure of economic policies".

"There is a need to improve the economic conditions more than the rules and regulations. The truth is that the way there is unemployment and work and businesses have fallen prey to recession and declining demand due to the wrong policies of the government and excessive taxes, there is tremendous pressure on the businesses moving towards loss to get maximum work done from minimum employees," the SP leader wrote in Hindi on X.