N R Narayana Murthy, the co-founder of Infosys, stated on Thursday that for India to grow as a nation, there must be a culture of honesty, no favouritism, swift decision-making, and simple transactions.
Speaking at the Asia Economic Dialogue, which was hosted here by the Ministry of External Affairs, Murthy claimed that only a small portion of the population works hard in the nation and that the majority of people have not absorbed the culture that is necessary to realise Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s goals.
Murthy remarked, “We need to promote a culture of swift decision-making, swift implementation, hassle-free transactions, honesty in transactions, and no favouritism,” adding that these cultural traits are the one thing that all modern nations have in common.
According to him, China and India were around the same size in the late 1940s, but thanks to its assimilated culture, the northern neighbour has expanded to be six times larger than India.
There is a small portion of India that puts in a lot of effort, is trustworthy, and has a strong sense of discipline, but generally speaking, this is not the case, according to Murthy.
He requested that people refrain from labelling him as anti-national and used the example of opening a facility in Shanghai in 2006. He claimed that in contrast to India, the mayor of the Chinese city awarded the 25-acre block of land he had chosen the day after it was made.
At lower levels, he claimed, corruption exists, but higher up, he added, people are quite honest.
“The business people would likely be very delighted to do this if we wanted them to solely do business in India. All that we respectfully ask is that prompt choices be made, that they be put into action immediately, and that there be no harassment or needless obstacles “said he.
He also urged young people not to engage in unethical behaviours like moonlighting or insistently working from home, stating that ethics and laziness require special attention.
He pleaded with the young people, saying, “Please don’t fall into this trap of I’ll moonlight, I’ll do work from home, and I’ll come to the office three days a week.”
