Narayana Murthy Backs 70-Hour Work Week, Highlights Role Of Entrepreneurs in Nation-Building

Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy backed his 70-hour workweek success mantra for economic growth during the Indian chamber of commerce event. He highlighted that if India wants to become “number one” the young population of the country has to work hard. Drawing parallels with the best global companies, he said India is still way behind and Indians have much work to do to become a leader. 

“...Once we compare ourselves with the best global companies, I can tell you we Indians have a lot to do. We have to set our aspirations high because 800 million Indians get free ration. That means 800 million Indians are in poverty. If we are not in a position to work, then who will work hard?” said Murthy, according to NDTV.

Also Read: We Are Underperforming in Job Creation By a Couple of Million Annually: Raghuram Rajan

Narayan Murthy Highlights Role of Entrepreneurs 

Speaking at the same event, he highlighted the role of entrepreneurs in nation building, mainly by creating jobs and eventually generating wealth for investors. 

“I realised the only way a country can fight poverty is by creating jobs that lead to disposable incomes. The government has absolutely no role in entrepreneurship,” Murthy said at the event. “I also realised entrepreneurs build a nation as they create jobs, they create wealth for their investors and they pay taxes,” he added. 

Previously, Murthy’s 70-hour workweek mantra has been severely criticised by people across various social media platforms, calling it “toxic”. Additionally, it also sparked controversy around work-life imbalance and glorification of “hustle” culture. 

Also Read: Anxious, Exhausted, Sinking: Why Young Indians Are Struggling at Work

But he isn’t the only one vouching for a greater number of working hours. Earlier, Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal who supported Murthy’s mantra, said he strongly believes that one generation will have to do ‘tapasya’ for India to become the largest economy. Aggarwal mentioned that he doesn’t believe in the concept of work-life balance. 

“But, I don’t care because I have a strong belief that one generation will have to do tapasya...so that we can build the number 1 country in the world, the largest economy,” said Aggarwal in an ANI podcast.