NEW DELHI: Karnataka IT minister Priyank Kharge on Tuesday said companies cannot force individuals to work extra hours and “cannot run sweat shops”, while giving opinion on Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy‘s statement that the country’s youth should work 70 hours a week.
Kharge, who appreciated Murthy’s contribution to the IT industry and his ‘wisdom’, said instead of stipulating the number of hours put in by an individual, companies should see how productive they are in their professional assignments.
Asked about Murthy’s statement which created a furore across social media and the IT and tech sector, Kharge told TOI, “To each his own. It’s different strokes for different folks. As a minister, I would concentrate on productivity. If you are being productive in seven hours, I don’t mind. And if you intend to put your other seven hours to ensure that your productivity increases and it helps the department or the ministry, you are welcome to do it. But we cannot force somebody to do this (put in 70 hours). You cannot run sweat shops.”
Speaking about investments in the state, he said that Karnataka has been making efforts to get companies come in areas such as electronics, electric vehicles, and semiconductors. Asked whether they have approached Tesla for setting up a factory in the state, considering that the American electric vehicles maker is close to setting foot in India, he said that certain conversations have happened. “We’ve had some indirect conversations at this point.”