NRN’s resignation triggers ripples of shock

NRN’s resignation triggers ripples of shock
The Times of India

His was a thankless job

It is sad that he has resigned although it has been a thankless job. It is not that easy for people like Murthy to find time to invest in such infrastructure initiatives. Still, he was doing it. Now, many of us will think twice before we get involved in any such ventures to support governments. Such things will have a negative impact on the state and business overall. It is like sending wrong signals. The issue is only about asking for better infrastructure and transparency. Many treated it as an exclusive demand but it is high time that the man on the street started asking for it. On PPP: The government should realise the importance of making Bangalore as an attractive investment destination. — Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, CMD, Biocon

Murthy can’t be doubted

Narayana Murthy’s actions are totally justified. All this has to stop somewhere. People like him cannot be doubted. Nobody can even doubt his motives because they are obviously above board. If there is any inefficiency, it is a systemic problem and one person cannot be blamed for it. And definitely not Murthy, for he has no ulterior motives.
— IIM-B director P G Apte

Don’t send wrong signals


The circumstances under which N R Narayana Murthy has resigned are most unfortunate. If a government committee has not performed well, the right approach for the government is to review its work and take corrective action like disbanding the committee or reconstituting it. In politics, it is common for adversaries to publicly attack each other. But when this is extended to professionals who are invited to contribute to development projects, it can send wrong signals to the latter. Statesmanship calls for inspiring and forging links with all who can contribute to greater development.
— Public Affairs Centre chairman Samuel Paul

PPP needs time

The resignation of Murthy is really a setback because it is a high-profile project and needed the expertise of someone like Murthy. Public-private partnership is an untouched concept. If you have a concerted effort from the private sector to partner in the development, it needs to be given time.
On Karnataka’s image: There isn’t enough political focus and energy to bring about change. When you travel around the world, you find that countries, which were behind us, have made significant strides in their development.
— Venkatesh Mysore, managing director, MetLife India.

Don’t neglect infrastructure

It is very unfortunate that Mr Narayana Murthy has stepped down from such an important project. It clearly shows that he is unhappy. However, I am hopeful that the government will act on it as his decision definitely conveys strong signals on the importance of infrastructure.There is definitely a concern about infrastructure. However, the traction of India and Bangalore in specific is very high.At Nasscom, we realise that the government has its own constraints. But, we have to make sure that it acts quicker when it comes to addressing issues on infrastructure.
— Kiran Karnik, president, Nasscom

We’are going backward

Today, world over, most developed nations have this PPP (pubic-private partnership) model for various development projects. With such developments, not only will the purpose of a PPP model be defeated, but as a state, we will be going back by 10-20 years. On Karnataka’s image:These developments are only an indication of the future. These are initial signs of a wreck.
— Anant Koppar, president, Bangalore Chamber of Industry
and Commerce

One instance not a blot on PPP


It is very unfortunate that Mr Narayana Murthy had to step down, especially at a time when the industry has begun to participate with the government for overall infrastructure growth. Similar to cities like Boston, Tokyo and Shanghai, Bangalore is a place where growth is outpacing infrastructure. It is important to see that they go hand-in-hand. It is time we showed some proof that work is happening. Since I am also part of the empowered committee on infrastructure, I am pleased to see that the government has agreed to publicise the developments and the work being undertaken for infrastructure development.
On PPP: I sincerely hope that Mr Murthy will withdraw his resignation. However, I strongly believe that PPP model will definitely work in India and I don’t think that this one incident should be considered as an instance to doubt the very purpose of a PPP model.
— Som Mittal, managing director, HP Globalsoft

Don’t link resignation

The reason Narayana Murthy came on board was to make sure that coordination among various government agencies, both State and Central, goes smooth and project sees a successful financial closure. Now that that has happened, it is more of an implementation matter. Please do not link this resignation to Deve Gowda’s statement.Two months ago Narayana Murthy had made a statement saying that now that the project was well on track, he had no role to play. The execution team will do its job.
On PPP: Of course, it is required; it has contributed to such massive projects. We have taken specific projects where money has come, like adopt a footpath. In many cases we (private sector) had given technical inputs. — R K Misra, Flextronics V-P and member, Empowered Committee on Infrastructure and Traffic Management.