90-hour workweek: Amitabh Kant says ‘I slog it out, but hard work doesn’t mean...’
India's G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant supports the L&T chairman on the 90-hour workweek row, stating that India needs to work hard to become a developed nation by 2047. Kant expressed his views in an interview with NDTV.
G20 Sherpa of India and former CEO of NITIAayog, Amitabh Kant, in an interview with NDTV, supported L&T Chairman and Managing Director SN Subrahmanyan's opinion on the 90-hour workweek, stressing the role of hard work in making India a developed nation by 2047.
“Well, I slog it out. I believe in slogging it out. I believe in hard work. I truly believe that if India is to become a developed nation by 2047,” said Kant, responding to the news channel's query on his opinion on the 90-hour workweek debate.
The G20 Sherpa also cited examples from other countries, such as Japan, Korea, and China, to highlight the importance of hard work and said that if India wants to get out of the “middle-income crap”, the people need to work hard with a clear outcome.
“Like Japan post World War 2, they were working hard. Korea was working hard when it was growing. China worked hard for three decades. If India has to get out of the middle-income crap, Indians must work hard, but they also must have a clear outcome,” said Amitabh Kant.
Amitabh Kant on work-life balance
The former CEO of NITIAayog underscored that working hard did not mean people would not have a work-life balance. He mentioned that very few countries in the world have been able to grow at a pace of nearly 9 to 10 per cent annually without putting in the hard work.
“Working hard doesn't mean that you won't have a work-life balance. All Indians must be very clear that very few countries are able to grow at 9 to 10 per cent per annum year after year without working hard,” said Kant.
“India also needs to maintain a clear work-life balance, but that work-life balance will actually come from working hard,” he said.
Amitabh Kant praises L&T chairman
The G20 Sherpa for India praised L&T Chairman SN Subrahmanyan for being a “top class CEO” and for the efforts to motivate the team to deliver projects ahead of time, which was allegedly misinterpreted among the masses.
“I know Mr. Subrahmanyan very well, he is a top-class CEO, he is someone who has got a stellar record. He has delivered as the CEO of L&T and he was just trying to inspire and motivate his team. He was just telling them that please work hard so we can deliver our projects before time. Now that's being twisted out of context to my mind,” said Kant, supporting Subrahmanyan's take on work-life balance.
Kant also highlighted that he strongly believes the nation needs to work hard and have a clear outlook.
“Its a tough one, it is not easy, you have to improve your infrastructure, you have to improve your learning outcome, you have to improve your health outcomes, you need to push on your exports. It's not an easy task,” Kant said while commenting on India's growth outlook.
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Business NewsNewsTrends90-hour workweek: Amitabh Kant says ‘I slog it out, but hard work doesn’t mean...’
First Published:18 Jan 2025, 03:43 PM IST
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