Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav.
Credit: PTI File Photo
Lucknow: Samajwadi Party president and Lok Sabha MP Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday called for urgent policy reforms to address the issue of work-related stress, emphasising that progress will only be possible when the mental health of the country is good.
The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister also took note of the recent death due to alleged extreme work pressure and stress of a 26-year-old Chartered Accountant working at a prominent corporate firm—Ernst & Young (EY)—in Pune.
Yadav stressed that a healthy mental state is essential for national progress and urged the government to reconsider its approach towards work, shifting from an emphasis on long hours to evaluating actual outcomes.
In a long Hindi post on X, Yadav emphasised that a "balanced work-life ratio" is a standard for the development of any country. He said the challenges faced by employees are not isolated to one company or a government department but are prevalent across sectors.
"The government and the corporate world must view this letter as both a warning and a piece of advice," he asserted.
The Kannauj MP noted that if working conditions are not conducive, performance and results will also suffer. He said it is crucial to improve economic conditions rather than merely focusing on rules and regulations.
"Rising unemployment and declining demand, exacerbated by poor government policies and excessive taxation, have led to immense pressure on employees to deliver more despite dwindling resources," Yadav said.
He stressed that the root cause of this stress is the failure of economic policies.
"The day the government acknowledges its shortcomings and introduces positive economic policies -- making tax systems fair and improving working conditions -- the lives of employees across sectors will see significant improvement," the SP leader stated.
"Progress will only be possible when the mental health of the country is good. In this context, the government will first have to change its thinking and its ways of working, where the basis should not be the superficial measure of working the maximum number of hours but the result obtained in the end," he said in the post.
Yadav also tagged federal ministries like corporate affairs and labour, besides the Indian Chamber of Commerce among others.