The Hindu Business Line : Rural, urban child must compete on equal footing: Narayana Murthy

MR N.R. NARAYANA MURTHY (left), Chief Mentor, Infosys Technologies Ltd, with Mr Ashwani Kumar, Union Minister of State for Industries, and Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, at the Partnership Summit 2007, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry, in Bangalore on Friday. — K. Gopinathan

Bangalore , Jan. 19

To make India a better place, the rural and urban child must compete on equal footing, said Mr N.R. Narayana Murthy, Chief Mentor, Infosys.

Addressing a packed gallery at the valedictory session of the CII Partnership Summit, Mr Murthy said: "Let us ensure that the youth not only in urban India but also in rural India have joy, confidence and hope in the future of the country," he said.

"The need of the day is to ensure that we take the less fortunate Indians along with us. It is not sufficient if India is everywhere outside India, it has to be everywhere within India," said Mr Murthy.

This can be done if business leaders take the initiative. Mr Murthy suggested that if all those who earned above Rs 50 crore paid "corporate tax," this money could go into a fund that would facilitate mid-day meal for the less privileged children.

"We can generate $4 billion and if the Government puts in the same amount, that will lead to Rs 32,000 crore. This will take care of both breakfast and lunch of 35 million children — at Rs 10 per day per child," said Mr Murthy, enumerating his vision for adequate nourishment for children. Business leaders must also join hands with the Government to tackle the population problem.

Three pillars

Earlier, Mr Murthy highlighted the three pillars for conquering the next frontier — business, social entrepreneurship and agriculture growth. "The first pillar — business and economy — is seeing shooting growth ... with GDP growing at 8 per cent, exports surging at 25 per cent and FDI also surging. Indian companies are in a hurry to acquire companies abroad.

"Yet another revolution that is happening is that of social entrepreneurship. NGOs are doing wonderfully well. There is a sense of respect, partnership and camaraderie between businessmen and politicians. We are all partners in progress," said Mr Murthy.

But the third pillar of agriculture is "not as rosy." While agriculture was growing at 3.2 per cent before 1996, it has now dwindled to 1.9 per cent. The contribution of agriculture to GDP is likely to go down further, the disposable income of the poor will also go down. We must take note of this seriously, said Mr Murthy.

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