'We Owe It': Infosys' Narayana Murthy Defends 70-Hour-Work Week Statement

Murthy's statement sparked a huge debate on the internet.

Months after saying that Indian youngsters should work for 70 hours a week, Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy has defended it by saying that a lot of his friends in the West were all happy about it.

(Photo: Chetan Bhakuni/ The Quint)

Months after saying that Indian youngsters should work for 70 hours a week, Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy has defended it by saying that a lot of his friends in the West were all happy about it.

In an interview to CNBS-TV18, Murthy said, "I rationalised it this way. If anybody has performed much better than me in their own field, not necessarily in my field, I would respect and call them, and I would say, where do you think I was wrong in saying this? But I didn't find it. A lot of my Western friends, a lot of NRIs, and a lot of good people in India called me, and without exception, they were all very happy."

"They all said whether it is 70 or 60, that's not the issue. The issue is that we have to work hard in this country because the poor farmer works very hard. You know, the poor factory worker works very hard. So, therefore, those of us who received education at a huge discount, thanks to the subsidy from the government for all this education. In my case, I got a scholarship, right from the university. So we owe it to the less fortunate citizens of India to work extremely hard."

Here's what GenZ, Millennials and Boomer think of Murthy's suggestion.