'Nobody Is Forcing Indians To Work 90 Hours A Week': Mohandas Pai

Mohandas Pai, teh Chairman of Aarin Capital on Friday said that nobody is forcing Indians to work 70-90 hours a week, while commenting on the 90-hour work week debate, which has the country divided.

Last week, Larsen & Toubro Chairman SN Subrahmanyan has re-ignited the work life balance debate by saying that if he could he would make his employees work on Sundays as well, adding what will one do "staring at their wives" or husbands.

This statement has added on to Infosys Co-Founder Narayana Murthy's statement where he urged employees to work 70 hours per week and the debate has spread like wildfire, earning a lot of ire from netizens.

Mohandas Pai On The Debate

While categorically stating that he is not part of the debate at all, Mohandas Pai, Chairman of Aarin Capital in a call exclusively with Republic, said that no one is "forcing India and Indians to work 70 hours and 90 hours a week."

As he went on to explain where he stands on the matter, he said, "Individuals have to decide what they want to do. Competition is a function of life," adding that if he wanted to work very hard, he would get promoted and it is fine if someone does not wish to do more.

But he also said, "Rewards will go to people who are high performers. That is reality. That is competition. Accept it."

He further added that one cannot force everyone to say that work-life balance is more important than work.

"We live in a society where there is freedom of choice," he said.

Pai also highlighted on the redundance of "passing judgements" and "sermonising through others."

He further added that the people claiming that longer hours of work do not ensure productivity are unproductive people.

Commenting on the Japanese culture of working longer hours, he said that Japan's culture is very different as it was destroyed during the second world war and they had to work very hard to come out of that situation. He added that the Japanese are now finding that they are getting richer but they are not getting enough time to spend with their families. Therefore, they have decided to cut-down on their working hours.

But while drawing parallels with India he said, "India is a different story. India is a very poor country. We don't have enough jobs. But nobody is forcing India and Indians to work 70 hours or 90 hours a week. If some leaders are saying we should work hard, accept it. Or if you don't want to accept it then don't accept it."

Also Read: 90 Hr Work Week Debate: Economist Sanjeev Sanyal Says 'Gone Into Silliness'- Read Here | Republic Business