A Murthy with a vision
In his interview to Stephen Sackur Infosys Chairman N. R. Narayana Murthy has done some much needed plain-speaking.
Murthy is right in his observation that our politicians straddle multiple worlds — the urban and the rural, the rich and the poor, the haves and the have-nots — and that after all, these people have been elected to represent all these constituencies, and that they must realize this reality. If former Karnataka Prime Minister in Delhi, H.D. Deve Gowda and his lackey, the present Karnataka Chief Minister, and the avoidable Gowda-Murthy spat are any indication, they will not.
One important issue for which Sackur did not elicit proper answer is the effect of globalization on the working class. Globalization has deprived them of not only employment opportunities but also their hitherto strength of collective bargaining. For, industries do not exist any more as traditional behemoths with thousands of workers under one roof who can unite and take on the management. It is the loss of the working glass and gain of imperialism. What will Murthy say about this?