Santosh Patole, a dedicated facility manager from Pune with eight years of loyal service at multinational IT giant SLB (Schlumberger) in Yerawada, launched a determined hunger strike outside the company’s office around 7 December 2025, protesting his abrupt dismissal on 23 July amid his battle with thyroid isthmus cancer.
The termination letter cited an alleged Rs 2.5–3 crore financial loss from a decision on an unimplemented project a charge Patole vehemently disputes as fabricated, insisting the firm dismissed his explanations without due process and cut off his critical medical coverage just as he held a fitness certificate to return to work.
While SLB remains silent with no public response or official statements, recent coverage highlights surging public outrage, viral social media campaigns under hashtags like #WhySLBWhy, and solidarity from unions, though Maharashtra labour authorities have yet to issue formal comments; Patole, now on Day 8 of his indefinite fast as of 15 December under medical watch with protest banners proclaiming “Employees Are Humans, Not Numbers,” demands full compensation, restored benefits, and a fair probe, reigniting fierce debates on workplace ethics and protections for ill employees in India’s cutthroat IT sector.
Cancer Diagnosis to Sudden Sacking
Santosh Patole’s ordeal began innocuously during SLB’s routine annual health assessment in April 2025, when doctors uncovered thyroid isthmus cancer a rare and aggressive form affecting the thyroid’s central isthmus, often requiring prompt surgery and prolonged recovery.
Trusting his employer’s support, Patole promptly took approved medical leave in May and June for life-saving surgery and initial treatments, with all expenses covered by company insurance up to that point, reflecting standard protocols for such cases.
By early July, armed with a formal fitness certificate from his oncologist greenlighting his return to duties, Patole was eager to resume his role managing facilities at the bustling Yerawada campus only to be blindsided on 23 July by a cold termination letter.
The document pinned the firing on a supposed Rs 2.5–3 crore loss tied to one of Patole’s past decisions, a claim he labels outright false since the project in question had not even been rolled out, let alone caused any damage. “They never heard my side; my performance reviews were stellar over eight years, yet this baseless accusation ended everything,” Patole recounted to gathered reporters and supporters during his protest, his voice steady despite evident fatigue.
The fallout was immediate and devastating: his medical insurance vanished overnight, plunging him into crippling debt for ongoing chemotherapy, scans, and consultations, while amplifying mental anguish in an already vulnerable state exacerbated by family pressures in Pune’s high cost of living. This sequence not only humanises Patole as a 21-year industry veteran but underscores how health crises can unravel long-built careers without recourse.
Hunger Strike Fuels Public Backlash
Refusing to fade quietly, Patole pitched a modest tent outside SLB’s Commerzone office in early December, marking Day 1 of his indefinite hunger strike on or around 7 December with handwritten banners decrying corporate dehumanisation: “#WhySLBWhy? Employees Are Humans, Not Numbers.”
By 15 December, on Day 8 or beyond, he persists under voluntary medical supervision, sipping only water amid growing crowds of sympathisers, local activists, and fellow IT workers who see their own precarious futures mirrored in his plight.
Social media has exploded with Instagram reels, LinkedIn posts from Patole himself, and viral shares amplifying his story garnering thousands of views, outraged comments, and calls for boycotts, transforming a personal grievance into a national flashpoint.
Unions have rallied swiftly, invoking the Industrial Disputes Act to demand inquiries into potential violations of medical leave entitlements and discriminatory practices, though no concrete statements from Maharashtra Labour Minister Shrirang Barne or department officials appear in the latest dispatches a silence that critics decry as enabling corporate overreach.
SLB, the Pune arm of global oilfield services leader Schlumberger, has issued zero comment, neither confirming nor refuting details, which only intensifies perceptions of evasion in a sector notorious for high attrition and minimal empathy during personal hardships.
This backdrop reveals deeper systemic woes: India’s IT industry, employing millions yet plagued by burnout and tenuous contracts, often sidelines health protections in favour of profitability, leaving workers like Patole mid-treatment and mid-career exposed to ruthless expediency. Precedents abound, from similar sackings during pandemics to unreported cases in high-pressure hubs like Pune and Bengaluru, making Patole’s stand a clarion call for reform.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
Patole’s raw fight against illness and injustice lays bare a profound moral failing in modern workplaces, where profit margins eclipse human fragility, demanding immediate, compassionate intervention from corporations and swift legal fortifications to prevent such tragedies.
The Logical Indian unwaveringly champions peace, dialogue, kindness, empathy, harmony, and coexistence, imploring SLB to open channels for fair negotiation, restore vital support, and model accountability, while pressing authorities to probe rigorously under labour laws that must evolve to cradle the vulnerable.
