Narayana Murthy, the founder of Infosys, has sparked a debate after advising “70 hours-a-week” work formula to youngsters to increase the country’s overall productivity. Social media experts and several others have reacted to Murthy’s formula, with some stressing that such routines would lead to cardiac issues and stress related complications.
Sudha Murthy has defended her husband and Infosys founder Narayana Murthy after he sparked a debate on advising a “70 hours-a-week” work formula to youngsters to increase India’s overall productivity.
Speaking to News18, the author and head of Infosys Foundation said that Narayana Murthy himself has worked for 80 to 90 hours a week and was only sharing his experience.
“He has worked 80 to 90 hours a week, so, he doesn’t know what less than that is. He believes in real hard work and he lived like that. Hence, he has told what he felt,” Sudha Murthy said, adding that her husband believes in passion and “real hard work”.
On being asked if she tried telling him how things work in corporate set-ups these days, Murty replied, “People have different ways of expression. But he lived like that, he had walked the talk. So, he has shared his experience.”
TV Mohandas Pai, the ex-CFO of Infosys, cited data of how many hours urban men work in each state and said Narayana Murthy’s advice was for youngsters, people below 30. “Prosperity needs hard work, data shows.”
According to the map that Mohandas Pai shared the average working hours in India is 61.6 per week while Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu clocked in the highest with 78.6 hours — more than what Narayan Murthy recommended. The source of the data is from Time Use Survey (2019), done by the government of India.