Bollywood star Deepika Padukone has entered the online fray around remarks made by the chairman of infrastructure major L&T, S N Subrahmanyan, with regard to wishes to get people to work on Sundays. These statements have stunned people, Padukone said.
Subrahmanyan, is heard in a video going around on social media, as having said: "How long can you stare at your wife?"
"I regret I am not able to make you work on Sundays. If I can make you work on Sundays, I will be more happy, because I work on Sundays," he further said in the video.
Posting a piece of news about L&T head's statement on Instagram Stories, Padukone said, "Shocking to see people in such senior positions make such statements #mentalhealthmatter."
Subrahmanyan's comments drew criticism on social media with some questioning why highly paid CEOs with different job pressures expect the same level of commitment from less-paid employees.
Soon after, L&T issued a clarification saying the chairman's remarks were in the context of extraordinary efforts required for achieving extraordinary outcomes for the nation.
"We feel this is India's decade, a time requiring collective commitment and endeavor to push for progress and bring to fruition our collective dream of being a developed nation.
"The chairman's remarks reflect this bigger ambition, highlighting that extraordinary effort," L&T spokesperson said in a brief statement.
Padukone, who has been speaking about mental well being and is also the founder of not-for-profit organisation The Live Love Laugh Foundation, posted the company's statement on Instagram and wrote, "And they just made it worse."
The remarks by Subrahmanyan have reignited the work-life balance debate, first triggered by Infosys Co-Founder Narayana Murthy's suggestion of a 70-hour work week.
Last year, Murthy had said, "India's work productivity is one of the lowest in the world. my request is that our youngsters must say, 'this is my country, I want to work 70 hours a week'."
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