Narayana Murthy, the Co-founder of Infosys, has expressed concerns about India’s high population growth rate and its potential consequences on the country’s future. Speaking at the convocation ceremony at Techno India University in Kolkata, Murthy highlighted the need for urgent attention to population control, citing the challenges posed by excessive population growth.
Narayana Murthy emphasized that India’s population growth rate could have severe repercussions in the next two to twenty-five years. He attributed the lack of emphasis on population control to the traumatic memories of forced sterilization during the Emergency in the mid-70s, which has deterred the country from actively addressing the issue.
He pointed out the alarming statistics regarding India’s per capita land availability, which is just 7 percent of that in the United States and 5 percent of Brazil’s. With such limited land resources, a high population growth rate poses a significant challenge in terms of providing adequate resources and infrastructure to sustain the population.
To underscore the impact of population growth on essential resources, Murthy referred to an article from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Technology Review. According to the article, India accounts for 16 percent of the world’s population but has only 4 percent of the world’s freshwater resources. This highlights the urgent need to address the population growth rate to ensure sustainable access to water and other resources.
Mr. Murthy acknowledged that certain regions in India have made progress in reducing their population growth rate, while others have not given sufficient attention to this critical issue. He stressed that population control is crucial for the country’s long-term development and resource sustainability.
In addition to addressing population growth, Murthy also touched upon the importance of democracy and pluralism. He quoted former US President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s definition of a true democracy, which includes freedom of expression, faith, freedom from fear, and freedom from want. Murthy emphasized that democracy thrives in an environment of pluralism, where citizens can practice their beliefs and faith without imposing them on others.
The convocation ceremony also honored several individuals with Doctor of Letters degrees, including Ratan Tata, Sourav Ganguly, Sushmita Sen, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Dr. Tessy Thomas, and Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay. The event provided a platform for insightful discussions about population control, democracy, and the collective responsibility to shape India’s future sustainably.