Narayana Murthy wants you to die working!

Infosys co-founder N. R. Narayana Murthy wants India’s youth to work 70 hours weekly. Excluding Sundays, it comes to around 12 hours a day per week. He believes this is a surefire way to turn India into a bona fide economic powerhouse – a magic wand to alleviate all the hurdles if you will. No wonder Rishi Sunak’s daddy-in-law has triggered a hailstorm of comments both in favor of and against his outrageous statement. While some industry stalwarts have come out defending Murthy’s unusual demand with Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal going so far as to demand a 140-hour week, others have dismissed his statement as the hubris of a senile former tycoon. But how does Murthy’s demand measure up to India’s current socio-economic standing?

Death by Overwork

To understand the bigger picture, let’s look at Japan, a country known for its storied comeback after the World War 2 disaster. Back in the late 40s and 50s, when Japan was still reeling from the double whammy of its unsuccessful WW2 campaign and the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Japanese people decided to rebuild the nation. And boy, did they rebuild their nation! Japan quickly became an economic superpower, albeit at a steep price. The population was crushed under the yoke of overwork. Things came to a head after the 1973 oil crisis. An already burdened people found themselves under a mountain of workplace demand and severe job insecurity. Things haven’t improved drastically since then, even with increased job stability and income. Images of Japanese men in suits sleeping on pavements pop up every now and then on the internet. Karoshi – the Japanese call it, and the meaning is as grim as the work culture. Death by overwork!

A 2016 study by WHO and the International Labour Organisation reveals a sickening picture. 745000 people died from heart disease or stroke as a direct result of long working hours. A staggering number in itself, this body count hardly reflects the third-world scene due to a lack of proper record-keeping in those countries. A 2019 study by the National Library of Medicine, USA, clearly states that putting in more than 61 hours per week can lead to increased blood pressure, which of course is a leading cause of cardiac arrest among a host of other critical ailments. And I am not even talking about mental health! With suicide rates at an all-time high globally, extended working hours make the picture gorier.

So, yeah! Narayana Murthy wants you to die working.

Where does India stand?

South Asia tops the chart at 49 working hours per week with East Asia inching closer at 48.8. India, with her 48-hour workweek, stands fifth behind Gambia, Mongolia, Maldives and Qatar. But that doesn’t present the whole picture, does it? Studies reveal that the average urban self-employed Indian male spends 55 hours per week to earn a living, with the average dipping only slightly for their salaried counterparts. ?India’s minimum statutory wage is also one of the worst in the world.

The insult to injury is perhaps the fact that as of 2019-20, 86.1% of the population between 15 and 59 years received no vocational training. Imagine asking them to clock 70 hours weekly to take our blessed nation to new heights.

For the uninitiated, the 8-hour daily shift came into existence when Welsh textile mill owner and social reformer Robert Owen called for “eight hours labor, eight hours recreation, and eight hours rest” in 1817 to stop mill workers, including children, from dying of exhaustion. And then good old Hitler lover Henry Ford batted for a 40-hour workweek, making it a mandate for his factories in 1926. The American Congress warmed up to the idea in 1940, making it a rule eventually. But my sources in the US of A tell me that the average American has to work a lot more to make ends meet, and even then, the problem of homelessness seems to be on the rise. Compare that to the European Union’s 36.4-hour workweek and you know why Hollywood produces more Avengers shit than European cinema.

India’s 48-hour workweek legislation came with the 1946 amendment of the Factories Act (1934). The bill was introduced by none other than Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. It goes without saying that things were pretty much disorganized prior to that with mill owners often working people – mostly the ‘untouchables’ – ?to death.

Talking sense

Mr. Narayana Murthy’s time has come and gone. He is as relevant to the current Indian business scene as a diesel car engine to the automotive market. His 70-hour workweek demand merely parrots what some Indian states like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh are trying to preach – work more and die for your nation. There’s more glory in living and serving the nation than dying for something stupid. We need healthy workers, not martyrs.