Ships are safest at the harbours, but they are not meant to be there- Narayana Murthy
INFOSYS Narayana Murthy has come down heavily on the lethargic Indian bureaucrat in an interview with a TV Channel.
Narayana Murthy said,
We have fallen far short of expectations and it's no longer possible to sell the ‘India story'.
I meet a lot of chief executives outside India and earlier India was mentioned once every three times China was mentioned. But now, if China is mentioned 30 times, India is not even mentioned once.
The first requirement for doing business between any two entities is trust and this is what I have learnt in the last 30 years. We should do nothing that will reduce that trust. Saying that we will go back and change the law on retrospective basis is like taking a pistol and shooting ourselves, and that doesn't make sense.
When the IT industry contributes 25 per cent to exports, how its problems are not seen as urgent or how its problems are not solved by 5 pm this evening. I met Mr. Mukherjee four times, I met the Prime Minister twice, I met the finance secretary, I met KaushikBasu, the chief economic advisor three times, all of that. I mean just defining what is software exports, just making sure the growth of the industry is not curtailed by unnecessary clauses in the tax administration, it should not happen.
Ships are safest at the harbours, but they are not meant to be there.
That is the real power of the Babu. Surely, the Prime Minister and the then Finance Minister must have been keen to solve the problems raised by Narayana Murthy- but no,babudom and red tape will ensure that things don't move. If Narayana Murthy after meeting the top executives of the country could not get a definition of export clarified, shouldn't ordinary businessmen endure the fact that they are condemned to do business in a country where the bureaucrat can frustrate not only their plans but also those of their political masters.