Murthy doubles down on his 70 hours a week work statement, says he worked 40 years

In the midst of the controversy sparked by Infosys cofounder NR Narayana Murthy's recent suggestion that young individuals should work 70 hours a week to enhance productivity and bolster India's competitiveness, Murthy appears unperturbed by the ensuing kerfuffle. He himself had put in the hours when setting up Infosys in 1981, said Murthy, 77.

According to a report of Economic Times, I used to be in the office at 6:20 am and leave office at 8:30 pm and worked six days a week, I know every nation that became prosperous did so through hard work.

From an early age, my parents instilled in me the belief that the key to breaking free from poverty lies in working exceptionally hard, under the assumption that optimal productivity is derived from each hour of labor, he emphasized.

As the fifth of eight children in a modest family, Murthy's father being a schoolteacher in Mysore, he pursued a degree in electrical engineering at Mysore University. Subsequently, he furthered his studies in computer science at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Kanpur.

During my entire 40-plus years of professional life, I worked 70 hours a week, he reiterated. When we had a six-day week till 1994 I used to work at least 85 to 90 hours a week. That has not been a waste.