Two is the problem for UPA government, says Narayana Murthy

New Delhi, Aug 8: It is raining brickbats for the United Progressive Alliance's second stint at the central level. If the Opposition, Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev were not enough, they now have Infosys founder and chairman N R Narayana Murthy's criticism to contend with.

The Indian IT legend has blamed the dual leadership structure of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi for the stagnation that has hit country on the reforms front.

Speaking with television channel, he said, "You know, I mean, I understand that he (Singh) leads a coalition. I understand that we have two leaders in the whole set-up. There is a leader of the party (Sonia), there is a leader of the government."

And added, "So, all these things do slow down the decision-making; but I think that's precisely why the reason that the prime minister must, in fact, take acute note of that and perhaps accelerate decisions."

Slamming the slowness in decision making, Murthy said, "Well, you know we have a culture of taking slow decisions, we have a culture of dithering. This is not just at Delhi, it happens in every state. It happens in corporations, it happens in educational institutions. Therefore, the need of the day is for all of us to realise that nothing is gained by dithering. Nothing is gained by postponing decisions. You have to take decisions quickly, no matter that they appear unpalatable in the short term."

Brushing aside Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's denial of a policy paralysis, the Infosys founder said, "Well, if I look at the facts and data, then it is true that we haven't had, or you know, taken any decisions ever since this government came back to power in 2009. Which means it is already two years and about three months old. So, to that extent, I think we should all be concerned."

As a concluding shot, Murthy said, "It's a good idea to have politicians retire at 60."

OneIndia News