In the wake of the tragic demise of 26-year-old chartered accountant Anna Sebastian Perayil, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that educational institutions should give stress management lessons to its students to develop their ‘inner strength’. She said this can only be attained if they put their faith in God, while talking at an event in a private college on Saturday, September 21, where she made the comments. The Congress has called this ‘victim-blaming’ and criticised the Union government for not seeing the issues of the young working generation.
In her speech, Nirmala said, “... a woman who had studied CA well died unable to cope up with the pressure. Families should teach that no matter what you study and how far you go in life, you should have the inner strength from within to handle stress. That can only be attained if they put their faith in God. The more you trust in God you'll have the ability and inner strength to face pressure. To help improve that faith and inner strength is why such a meditation room has been inaugurated in such an institution.”
Meanwhile, Congress general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal slammed her for the comments, saying, “The ruling regime and the Finance Minister can only see the pain of corporate giants like Adani and Ambani, not the pain of the hardworking and toiling young generation where freshers like Anna are exploited by the greedy corporate system… It is downright cruel on the part of the FM to blame Anna and her family for suggesting that she should have learnt stress management at home. This kind of victim-blaming is despicable and no words can convey the anger and disgust one feels because of such statements.”
Anna, a resident of Kochi in Kerala, tragically passed away on July 20, four months after starting her role at Ernst & Young in Pune. Her mother Anita Augustine alleged that Anna died due to the “overwhelming work pressure.” Following demands from several quarters, the Union government has launched an investigation into the matter.