³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ

How many hours should a person work in a week?

That's the question being asked in India over the past few days after software billionaire NR Narayana Murthy - the father-in-law of UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak - said that young people should be ready to work 70 hours a week to help the country's development.

"India's work productivity is one of the lowest in the world," he said on a podcast recently. "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 added.

After the comments went viral, Mr Murthy received both support and criticism as people on social media and the newspaper opinion pages debated "toxic" work cultures, and what employers can expect from the people they hire.

Ria Chopra is a freelance writer in Delhi. Newshour's Paul Henley asked her what she made of Mr Murti's statement?

Photo shows: Photo portrays a typical office setup with a female employee working on a laptop. Credit: Getty Images

Show less