Narayan Murthy reiterated the need to work 70 hours: Said- Youth will have to work very hard, 80 crore people in the country are poor

Kolkata Infosys co-founder Narayan Murthy once again reiterated the need to work 70 hours a week. He said- Youth will have to understand that we have to work hard and work towards making India number one.

He said, ‘We have to keep our aspirations high, because 800 million (80 crore) Indians get free ration. This means that 800 million Indians are in poverty. If we are not in a position to work hard then who will work hard.’

Murthy said, ‘In Infosys I said that we will go to the best companies and compare ourselves with the best global companies. Once we compare ourselves with the best global companies, I can tell you that we Indians have a lot to do.’

He said that there was a time when he was a leftist, when Jawaharlal Nehru was the Prime Minister and Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) had become a reality. Murthy arrived in Kolkata on Sunday. He attended the inaugural function of the centenary celebrations of the Indian Chamber of Commerce.

We all were admirers of Nehru and socialism

Speaking to Sanjeev Goenka, Chairman of RPSG Group, Murthy said- My father used to talk about the extraordinary progress being made in the country at that time. We were admirers of Nehru and socialism.

He said that I got a chance to work in Paris in the early 70s, but I was confused. Western countries used to talk about how dirty and corrupt India is. There was poverty in my country and there were potholes on the roads.

Murthy said that everyone was quite prosperous in Western countries. Trains used to run on time. I thought this could not be wrong. I met the leader of the French Communist Party and he answered all my questions, but I was not satisfied.

Entrepreneurs build the nation

Murthy said- I realized that a country can fight poverty only when it creates employment, which gives disposable income. The government has no role in entrepreneurship. I also realised that entrepreneurs build the nation because they create jobs. They create wealth for their investors and pay taxes.

He said that if a country adopts capitalism, it will build good roads, good trains and good infrastructure. In a poor country like India where capitalism had not taken roots, I realised I had to come back and experiment with entrepreneurship.