Narayana Murthy blasts corrupt politicians

Infosys Technologies Chairman N R Narayana Murthy on Wednesday said corruption has become pervasive in institutions in the country and there is a strong incentive for politicians to keep people ignorant and illiterate.

"Our institutions -- from our Parliament and legislatures to our courts and distribution systems -- have become pervaded with corruption," he said.

Corruption in India has become the norm, he said while addressing the second international alumni meet of National Institute of Technology in Bangalore.

Indians, the chief mentor of the Nasdaq-listed IT major said, spent over Rs 21,000 crore (Rs 210 billion) in bribes and illegal payouts in 2004 -- close to one per cent of the country's GDP.

"There is a strong incentive for our politicians to maintain the current status quo -- where the government is not accountable to the public on the most basic issues -- by keeping people ignorant and illiterate," he reiterated.

Giving an example, he said India's private radio stations are only allowed to broadcast entertainment and not news and information programmes. "There is absolutely no good reason for this restriction. Only reason is they (politicians) do not want the poor people to know what's happening in the country."

Murthy pointed out that radio is a low-cost media with the highest penetration in India-- it reaches 27 of every 100 households in the country. It is easily accessible to low-income, illiterate people and can be an important source of knowledge, news and information.

Pointing out that India's political and economic systems today were plagued with problems and inefficiencies, Murthy said that elections in the country were determined on the basis of caste and religion rather than the real-life issues and concerns of the people.

"India has the highest percentage of reservation in the world -- it is the only country where merit has been relegated to second place," he said.

Though India's has made progress in fields such as science and technology and nuclear, a majority of Indians remain captive to poverty, hunger, illiteracy and disease, he said.

"As a country, India has achieved political freedom but we lack economic freedom," Murthy said.

India has failed in its most urgent goals -- enabling universal access to basic resources of food, shelter, health-care and education and lacks moral and political will, according to him.

"The chasm between the haves and have-nots in our country is increasing," Murthy added.