Winter Session Of Parliament: Opposition Seeks Clarity On Narayan Murthy’s 70-Hour Work Week Advice

By OB Bureau On Dec 6, 2023

New Delhi: Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy stirred up a nationwide debate about a month back when he advised the youth to work for 70 hours a week. Murthy has now expanded the reach of his ‘70-hour work week’ advice beyond the employment sector in India, finding mention in Indian governance as well. On the first day of the Winter session of Parliament, three members of the Lok Sabha questioned the Narendra Modi government about whether it was considering the proposal posed by Narayan Murthy.

The YSR Congress Party’s Kanumuru Raghu Rama Krishna Raju, Congress MP Komati Venkata Reddy, and Manne Srinivas Reddy of Bharat Rashtra Samithi asked the Ministry of Labour and Employment in an unstarred question, “Will the Minister of Labour and Employment be pleased to state: Whether the Government is evaluating the 70-hour work proposal made by Infosys co-founder?” according to a Hindustan Times report.

According to the Centre, there has been no proposal under consideration for the concept of working seventy hours a week. Responding to a question from three opposition MPs, Rameswar Teli, Minister of State for Labour and Employment, stated, “The Government of India is not considering any proposal of that kind.”

Narayana Murthy, 77, made this statement in a podcast interview with Mohandas Pai, the former CEO of Infosys. He stated that India aspires to compete with nations like China, despite having some of the lowest productivity levels in the world.

Murthy asserts that India must exert extra effort just like Japan and Germany did after the Second World War. Regarding this suggestion of Narayana Murthy, common people and intellectuals were divided into two factions on the internet. A section of people agreed with him. Ola founder Bhavish Aggarwal agreed with Murthy’s statement while Congress MP Shashi Tharoor was a sharp critic of the statement.