Zerodha announces new health initiative

To promote health awareness among their employees, Zerodha founder Nithin Kamath announced a new health initiative for employees.

As per the new initiative, employees with a body mass index (BMI) of less than 25 will get a bonus of a half-month salary. The company thus wanted to encourage its employees to lose weight by announcing incentives.

The timeline for this challenge is August 2022. Anyone with a BMI of less than 25 by August will get a half-month salary as a bonus. Employees will get this bonus along with other incentives.

Kamat announced the health initiative on World Health Day. He said that it would be fun to compete with other companies in this regard. His post got the attention of many netizens on various social media sites.

But, the initiative got mixed responses from netizens. While some people applauded it as great, many others opposed the idea. They said that BMI may not be the healthiest parameter and inclusive idea. Besides, it is toxic and does not promote overall health. Many people criticized saying that it was discriminatory and fat-shaming. They felt that the idea creates anxiety instead of promoting health awareness.

Last year also, Zerodha announced a wellness programme to encourage its employees towards health who were leading a sedentary lifestyle due to the pandemic.

Under this ’12-month get a healthy goal’, all employees had been announced a one-month salary if they reach the goal. Besides, they were also allowed to be part of a lucky draw for ₹10 lakhs. Kamat said that the programme was a success as it encouraged the employees to reach their health goals.

He said that with the success of the past programme, this new health initiative has been announced. It caught the attention of several people. But, many people disliked the idea. They expressed different opinions.

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