Sajjan Jindal endorses Narayan Murthy's ‘70-hour work week' idea, says PM Modi works 14-16 hrs

After Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal supported  Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy's idea that youngsters  must work for at least 70 hours a week, industrialist Sajjan Jindal on Friday said he wholeheartedly endorsed Murthy's statement. He said a five-day week culture is not what a rapidly developing country like India needs right now, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself works for 14-16 hours a day. 

“Our PM Narendra Modi ji works over 14-16 hours everyday. My father used to work 12-14 hours, 7 days a week. I work 10-12 hours everyday,” Jindal wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “We have to find passion in our work and in nation building.”

Elaborating on his point, Jindal said that India's circumstances and challenges are unique from those in the developed nations.

“They (developed nations) are working 4 or 5 days a week because their earlier generations clocked longer and more productive hours. We can't let shorter work weeks elsewhere become our standard!” he pointed out.

The 70-hour workweek discussion started after Infosys co-founder N R Narayana Murthy highlighted India's low work productivity and said the youth of India should be prepared to work 70 hours a week to elevate the nation's work culture and compete effectively on the global stage.

Murthy, who was speaking on the inaugural episode of 3one4 Capital's podcast 'The Record', told former Infosys CFO TV Mohandas Pai that there is a urgent need to alter India's work productivity. He said that unless India's youth commit to significantly more working hours, the country will struggle to catch up with economies that have seen remarkable progress over the past few decades.

He drew examples from some past experiments by different countries. He said: "This is exactly what the Germans and Japanese did after the Second World War... they made sure that every German worked extra hours for a certain number of years."

Murthy's comment sparked a nationwide debate, but he found support from new-age leaders such as Ola Cabs co-founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal and Pai himself. 

On Friday, Pai shutting down defence analyst Abhijit Iyer-Mitra's comment comparing Murthy's idea to 'typical Indian sweatshop attitude' said: "Abhijit, please stop making value judgments. You do not know Infosys nor what they do. Some of the biggest, most sophisticated global companies get their most complex work done by India. When you build something comparable, a $20 billion revenue company, open your mouth. Until then, please shut up."

Also read: Narayana Murthy: 'India's work productivity one of the lowest, youngsters should work 12 hours a day'

Also read: 'Nothing short of abuse': Infosys' Narayana Murthy's 70-hours work week remark kickstarts debate

Also read: Infosys Founder Narayana Murthy's Work Ethic Message To Indian Youth