• Source:JND
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EY CA Death: The death of a 26-year-old chartered accountant, Anna Sebastian Perayil, has raised a question on the work culture at big private companies in India. Ernst and Young India faced massive backlash on social media after a letter shared by Anna's mother went viral on social media. The colleagues of the CA, who died of work overload, did not even attend her funeral. The Union Labour Ministry has taken cognisance of the incident and said that it will be investigating the case.

"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 & @LabourMinistry has officially taken up the complaint. @mansukhmandviya," Minister of State for Labour Shobha Karandlaje said in a post on X.

Her remark came in response to a post made by BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who called the incident "sad and disturbing".

"This is very sad but also disturbing at many levels. I rqst Govt of India @mansukhmandviya. @ShobhaBJP to investigate these allegations made by the mother of unsafe and exploitative work environment that claimed the life of young , full of future Anna Sebastian Perayil," said the post on X.

Earlier on Wednesday, EY, who faced major criticism, reacted to the death of its employee and expressed condolences. It said that they are deeply saddened by Anna Sebastian's tragic and untimely passing in July 2024. The firm said that it 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.".

"Anna was a part of the Audit team at S R Batliboi, a member firm of EY Global, in Pune for a brief period of four months, joining the firm on 18 March 2024. That her promising career was cut short in this tragic manner is an irreparable loss for all of us," the EY said in the statement.

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"Anna was a part of the Audit team at S R Batliboi, a member firm of EY Global, in Pune for a brief period of four months, joining the firm on 18 March 2024. That her promising career was cut short in this tragic manner is an irreparable loss for all of us," the EY said in the statement.

"We are taking the family's correspondence with the utmost seriousness and humility. We place the highest importance on the well-being of all employees and will continue to find ways to improve and provide a healthy workplace for our 100,000 people across EY member firms in India," it added.