Rishi Sunak's billionaire father-in-law sparks outcry in India by saying young ... trends now

Rishi Sunak's billionaire father-in-law has sparked outrage in India after saying that young people should work 70-hour weeks to 'help the country'.

Software tycoon NR Narayana Murthy made the remarks on a business podcast in which he also complained that young Indians are picking up 'not-so desirable habits from the West'.

He lamented that work productivity in India is 'one of the lowest in the world' and added that 'unless we improve our work productivity... we will not be able to compete with those countries that have made tremendous progress.'

'So, therefore, my request is that our youngsters must say, 'This is my country. I'd like to work 70 hours a week',' he said.

The controversial comments triggered backlash from many online, with critics pointing out the low starting salaries and long hours endured by youngsters in the country.

Some business leaders have backed his calls for higher productivity, while his wife defended the comments saying her husband has worked even longer than 70-hour weeks during his successful career.

'He has worked 80 to 90 hours a week, so he doesn't know what less than that is,' Sudha Murty told News 18. 

'He believes in real hard work and he lived like that. Hence, he has told what he felt.'

In the UK, where Mr Murthy's son-in-law is the Prime Minister, the working time directive states that employees should not work more than 48 hours a week on average.

Employees' working hours has become a hot topic in India, with the pandemic prompting a change in attitude as people could increasingly work from home, but also slowing down the economy as it did elsewhere with successive lockdowns.

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