Mumbai: After Bollywood superstar Deepika Padukone expressed concern over Larsen & Toubro chairman’s statement, Harsh Goenka, Chairperson of the RPG Group, condemned SN Subrahmanyan’s remarks.
Subrahmanyan made a shocking statement, urging his employees to work 90 hours a week and even report to work on Sundays.
Goenka took to his X, formerly called Twitter, to share his thoughts and said, “Work smart, not slave.”
“90 hours a week? Why not rename Sunday to ‘Sun-duty’ and make ‘day off’ a mythical concept? Working hard and smart is what I believe in, but turning life into a perpetual office shift? That’s a recipe for burnout, not success. Work-life balance isn’t optional; it’s essential. Well, that’s my view! #WorkSmartNotSlave,” Goenka tweeted.
On January 9, Deepika, a mental health advocate, called out Subrahmanyan over his blatant disregard for labour laws in the country and mental health.
She re-shared journalist Faye D’Souza’s post about the same and wrote, “Shocking to see people in such senior positions make such statements. #MentalHealthMatters”.
This is not the first instance of a businessman making such vague statements and making unrealistic demands of India’s workforce. Earlier, Infosys co-founder N. R. Narayana Murthy sparked a controversy when he asked the young Indians to work for 70 hours a week to put the nation on the path of progress.
D’Souza then shared a statement issued by Larsen & Toubro, which read: “At L&T, nation-building is at the core of our mandate. For over eight decades, we have been shaping India’s infrastructure, industries, and technological capabilities. We believe this is India’s decade, a time demanding collective dedication and effort to drive progress and realize our shared vision of becoming a developed nation.”
“The Chairman’s remarks reflect this larger ambition, emphasizing that extraordinary outcomes require extraordinary effort. At L&T, we remain committed to fostering a culture where passion, purpose, and performance drive us forward.”
Deepika re-shared the post and captioned it: “And they just made it worse…”
–IANS
