Democracy gives you the freedom to seek a better quality of life: Narayana Murthy

Co-founder of Infosys Narayana Murthy addressed the students and audience at the convocation of Techno India University in Kolkata. He spoke at length on democracy and the importance of it in the country. Murthy implied that if the mindset of highlighting commonalities of various beliefs can be created, democracy in India will prosper. 

“Democracy in India will prosper only if we create a mindset that highlights the commonality of our beliefs rather than our differences. Making India the best country in the world requires the best from every one of you,” he said. Democracy works best and can prosper in an environment of pluralism where every citizen has the freedom to practise his/her own beliefs without imposing them on others. “President Franklin D Roosevelt defined a true democracy as having four freedoms – freedom of expression; freedom of faith; freedom from fear; and freedom from want,” he quoted.

Democracy gives you the freedom to express opinions responsibly and fearlessly, and where one also has the freedom to seek a better quality of life. Murthy added, “This translates to the responsibility to create a just society that embraces the fundamental principle to provide the strongest set of civil liberties and personal rights to everyone, and to tolerate new economic inequalities only if such inequalities alleviate the conditions of the poor citizens.”

Underlining some of the problems that the country faces, Murthy expressed that despite the laudable economic progress, India has unresolved problems in poverty, population, potable water and clean air. “India has not put population control on the front burner. The most urgent need at the moment is to reduce our population growth rate. While certain parts of India have made good progress in reducing it, certain other parts have not paid sufficient attention to this important issue.”

Murthy concluded that a true professional is one who lives by the rules of the profession and its ethics. He gave a motivating speech to the graduating students. Techno India University Chancellor Prof Dr Goutam Roychowdhury and Co-Chancellor Prof Manoshi Roychowdhury felicitated Narayana Murthy.