Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy, whose comment that youngsters should work 70 hours a week sparked a fierce debate, has now said that those who have received benefits from the government should work hard for the betterment of society. While he said he has no regret for his previous statement, Murthy said he did not think 70 hours was important. "All that it means is you have to be very productive."
Also read: Azim Premji turned down my job application: Narayana Murthy on the Infosys journey
"I used to work 85-90 hours a week till I retired. I received a scholarship right from my pre-university in 1961. All my friends who went to engineering college received a lot of help from the government in terms of their fees - a highly discounted figure. Therefore, my view has always been that those of us in India who have received so much benefit from the country from the taxpayer have an enormous responsibility to work very hard to bring a chance for the betterment of life of the poorer sections of the society. Therefore I don't regret it," Murthy said in an exclusive interview with India Today's Rajdeep Sardesai.
When asked if he was sticking by his comment that 70 hours a week should be there as a way to give back to society, he said 'absolutely' but quickly added that he did not think hours were important. "No, I don't think 70 hours is important. All that it means is, that you have to be very productive, you have to work very hard like the Germans did after World War I, like the Japanese did and we owe it to the poor people in our society to work hard and make the quality of their life a little bit better."
Sardesai turned to Sudha Murty and asked whether she shared his husband's view of a 70-hour week and whether she agreed that one has to be there all the time in the office grinding away. "No, not that way. Because at least for both of us work was always a joy so it was not grinding or anything. I even work more than 70 hours at this age because it is like work is different - oh you can't share family life, it is not true. We can still do that along with the work. Like you come home, you know I'm in the kitchen. He (Murthy) will come and help, is it not spending time together? So my definition is, you should enjoy your work, you should be passionate about your work and then the work is holiday."
Murthy then interjected and shared what veteran banker KV Kamath had to say on work-life balance. He said in 1998, he was voted the best CEO of the Year by the Economic Times. "There was a panel discussion where my friend KV Kamath was participating. The interviewer asked him - what is your view of work and work-life balance. He made a very important statement that has stood as The Guiding Light for me. He said look, we in India must first get a life, and then talk of work-life balance. I think it was a fantastic statement by KV Kamath. I am very indebted to him for making this whole philosophy very clear in that short sentence."
In October last year, Murthy faced backlash after he said India's work productivity was among the lowest in the world and that to compete with major economies like China, the country's youngsters must put in extra hours of work as Japan and Germany did after World War II. While some top executives backed him, others said it was not the hours that counted but the productivity that mattered.