Amid a nationwide lockdown, one of India's most valued companies - Reliance Industries - headed by Asia's richest man Mukesh Ambani - also announced hefty pay cuts for its employees. Joining the workforce, Ambani has declared he will forego his salary for the time being.
The gesture, extended as support, put many Indians in a mean frame of mind. The 63-year-old business tycoon, who draws around $3 million as remuneration annually, is now being trolled online.
People have hilarious responses to what is being labelled as a “pseudo sacrifice".
On the “Fortune Global 500” list of world’s biggest corporations, Reliance Industries ranked 106th in 2019 with a Ambani's net worth alone around $53 billion. It dropped 28 percent or $300 million a day for two months to $48 billion as of 31 March, a media report said last month.
Salary cuts at Reliance Industries were introduced in the wake of heavy losses suffered by its hydrocarbon business due to the coronavirus.
A letter to the company’s employees noted that along with Ambani himself, the firm’s other board of directors and executive committee members will also be letting go of 30-50 percent of their respective salaries, the media reported.
Workers associated with the hydrocarbon business of Reliance Industries, drawing higher than $20,000 approx. (INR 1.5 million) will be subjected to a 10 percent salary cut.
The pay deductions come despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi stressing industries not cut salaries under such critical circumstances.
According to the report “South Asia Economic Update: Impact of COVID-19”, the World Bank has predicted a five percent decline of the Indian economy this year.