Narayana Murthy Blames 'Poor' Public Governance for Country's Ills



Bangalore, Sep 5 (PTI): Software icon N R Narayana Murthy today blamed poor public governance for major ills faced by the country such as illiteracy, malnourishment, lack of sanitation facilities and dismal food and power management.  
 
Murthy said even 63 years after independence, 35 crore Indians can't read and write, and the country has the largest mass of malnourished children. Twenty-five crore people do not have access to safe drinking water, while 75 crore have no access to sanitation facilities.

"35 per cent of (total production of) grains are allowed to rot", the Chief Mentor of Infosys Technologies Ltd said at the inaugural function of first year BE/B.Arch classes at the BMS College of Engineering here.

He said India has an installed electricity generation capacity of 145 gigawatts but only 84 gigawatts are available, which is "sadly a shame". "Lot of it is due to poor (public) governance. There is no doubt about it", Murthy said. "Unfortunately, whatever, our public governance is in charge of....whatever our public governance has touched...has not made as good a progress as that happened in a significant percentage of private governance".

While he would not say that all of private governance is good, private governance institutions have by and large done better because of competition, entry of multinational companies and the need to compete at the global level.

Murthy also said: "This country requires discipline like no other country. We are like this because we are not a disciplined set of people. And that discipline has to start right in classrooms".

He said information technology industry has earned India "a little bit of recognition" in the world, first time in 300 years.

"Today we are thought of as people who can indeed do something worthwhile. This was not so some 25 years ago. Indians (till three decades ago) were seen as people incapable of doing anything worthwhile. Wherever you went, you were looked down upon as people worthy of pity. But that scenario has changed a little bit thanks to at least one (IT) industry", Murthy added. 

  

Top Stories

Comment on this article

  • Kateel Ramesh Prabhu, Mangalore/Bangalore

    Mon, Sep 06 2010

    Mr.Narayanamurthy Sir,I feel that before blaming poor public govrnance for country's ills, we need to address these issues.
    In a country where higher education has become commepurely commercial activity and realy needed are not getting the oppertunity,no educational qualifications are needed,no age bar for contesting elections,candidates are pitted in elections purely on cast basis and faught with money and muscle power,only petty thiefs are punished and big ones are playing with law,justice is not delivered in quickest time and guilties are punished earliest,where bank borrowers are not enthused by incentives for prompt repayment of loans and penalised with additional charges in the name of prepayment charges ,defaulters are gifted with lot of incentives by way of so called 'compromise',big loans are written off for huge sums secretely, above all people at high places are corrupt by body,mind and soul and practice only preaching and do not practice, what sort of governasnce we can expect.

    DisAgree Agree Reply Report Abuse

  • Gowda l, Hassan

    Sun, Sep 05 2010

    How selfish are we,and we are peak in religious activity..if we want to see God then be unselfish , serve others as we serve ourselves.Thre is a saying when you give to needy, poor, and educate the ones who are so poor, feed the people at your neigbour where you stay..You have done all to God...serve poor, needy, widows God is right well pleased with us..

    DisAgree Agree Reply Report Abuse

  • Charles D'Mello, Pangala

    Sun, Sep 05 2010

    Well Said sir. We need few more people like you and Dr. Abdul Kalaam to change the face of India.

    DisAgree Agree Reply Report Abuse

  • Jerome, Mangalore/Damascus

    Sun, Sep 05 2010

    I higly respect your contribution to the country as well as for today's young generation. As an IT world leader, can you adopt a poorest district of public governance of the country and set a model for the rest of country within a period of time? Else all of us get into this blame-game.

    DisAgree Agree Reply Report Abuse

  • Dayanand Bangera, Katapady / Abu dhabi

    Sun, Sep 05 2010

    Well said Sir. Even each one of the Governance body knows what they are doing. Look into their home / family, well taken care. They know what to do, but not interested to do it for public. I have not seen leaders talk about water / food / electricity after election. To happen all this, there should be all party meetings every month in every state to plan for the future of their people or scenario will be same in India even after ? years. Its really shame and I always feel bad even after having so much wealth why it lands to only few hands. Leaders spend 99% time for their party / personal benifits. Hoping for revolution to turn around India. Why Indian wealth is not benefiting each and every citizen of India. This is because we do not have powerful person to control whenever any party comes to power. Hope to see people like you in governance in future.

    DisAgree Agree Reply Report Abuse

  • William, Mangalore

    Sun, Sep 05 2010

    Mr Murthy speaks alright. But our per capita is eaten by the massive growth of population. Lot of development has taken during all these years. But the sad part of the story is that we are not honest in our thinking and in our action. We dont pay what is due to our Government. Most of the industrialist have accumalated more than the 75% of the wealth of the Nation and forgotten their duties towards the less fortunate and that is why poverty amongst the majority of the population has resulted in the denial of basic amenities and as a result of this disorder every where which is quiet natural.





























    DisAgree Agree Reply Report Abuse


Leave a Comment

Title: Narayana Murthy Blames 'Poor' Public Governance for Country's Ills



You have 2000 characters left.

Disclaimer:

Please write your correct name and email address. Kindly do not post any personal, abusive, defamatory, infringing, obscene, indecent, discriminatory or unlawful or similar comments. Daijiworld.com will not be responsible for any defamatory message posted under this article.

Please note that sending false messages to insult, defame, intimidate, mislead or deceive people or to intentionally cause public disorder is punishable under law. It is obligatory on Daijiworld to provide the IP address and other details of senders of such comments, to the authority concerned upon request.

Hence, sending offensive comments using daijiworld will be purely at your own risk, and in no way will Daijiworld.com be held responsible.