It was Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy?s 65th birthday on Saturday. He spoke to FE?s Darlington Jose Hector, after a quick birthday lunch, on a variety of gripping issues. Excerpts:
What is your sense of the extent of corporate contribution to corruption in India? Quite recently, the Karnataka Lokayukta report named some leading corporates for allegedly aiding illegal mining.
It would be unfortunate if one is going to paint the entire corporate world as corrupt. There could be exceptions, just like in every walk of life. At Infosys we never had to bribe anyone. But I know that for the common man in India, life is tough. He is forced to pay bribes to get petty things done.
Would you be interested in championing a new movement for corporate governance. For example, Clause 49 of Sebi?s Listing Agreement says that fixing an upper limit, for the term of an independent director, is non-mandatory. Do we need to revisit some of these points?
With regard to independent directors, there is a massive shortage of talent. There is a genuine bottleneck in this regard. But as we move forward, we may have to make this clause mandatory and fix the term for the independent director. But till such time there is a shortfall in the number of able and competent directors, we may have to continue in this mode.
Do you have a proposal to enhance the quality of the independent directors we have in this country, and also groom them in larger numbers for the future?
Harvard, Stanford and the London Business School address these issues very well. Our companies should send their independent directors for training to these places. CII is taking an active interest to train directors and take them to a globally accepted level. This is the need of the hour. We need to train more people to become good independent directors.
What do you make of this whole civil society movement? Do you see a parallel between yourself and Anna Hazare, as anti-corruption crusaders?
I think I?m too small a man to be compared to Hazare. My only point is that we should not miss any opportunity to weed out corruption.
That’s the only factor that is holding the country back. We are growing at 8-8.5% and it is the duty of every Indian to accelerate our economic growth rate. At the same time, we should be aware of the need for discipline.
You have often said that you do not want to enter politics. But with your credentials, many say that you should become the president of India. If you are made an offer, will you refuse?
This is a hypothetical question. We have a fine President and a good Vice-President. These are matters that should be discussed only at an appropriate stage. But one thing is for sure. More people in the 25-45 year age bracket should come into politics. We have tried this at Infosys and succeeded. That age group has a lot to contribute.
Your son Rohan spoke at your farewell function on Friday and was very impressive. Now that he has completed his PhD, would he play a more active role in your venture capital fund Catamaran?
Well, he will play a role. But it is not clear at this stage as to what kind of a role that would it be. But that will not be in any official capacity. I will be discharging the official duties.