‘Hungry For 120 Hours…’ Says Narayana Murthy; Know When This Happened

“Most of you have not experienced hunger. I have,” Murthy said while addressing the event.

Infosys Founder N R Narayana Murthy has said he “experienced hunger” for 120 hours non-stop when he was hitchhiking in Europe 50 years ago.

Murthy, 77, was talking in a special event ‘Achievements in Food Security: India’s Strides Towards Sustainable Development Goals’, arranged by the Permanent Mission of India to the UN on 2nd April 2024 at the UN headquarters here.

Narayana Murthy On Hunger

“Most of you have not experienced hunger. I have,” Murthy said while addressing the event. He added that 50 years ago, he experienced hunger for 120 hours non-stop when he was hitchhiking in Europe and at a place called Nish, a border town between Bulgaria and what was then Yugoslavia and today Serbia.

“Most Indians here and I have received good quality and highly subsidised education from the Indian government. Therefore, as civilised people, we must show gratitude to our nation and help the future generation of these helpless, poor children to get (a) good education”.

What Is Akshaya Patra Foundation?

The Akshaya Patra Foundation, has commemorated the milestone wherein they served four billionth meal. The event showcased India’s innovative strategies, policies and achievements in food security and nutrition and their alignment with SDGs, particularly the target of zero hunger.

While praising Akshya Patra foundation’s work, Infosys’s founder Narayana Murthy said that success is bringing a smile to the face of helpless people, He added “Akshaya Patra is hugely successful by that count. If our poor children lose hope and faith in our society, they will turn to violence and destroy all the good that India has achieved and is hoping to achieve.”

Murthy appealed to leaders of other countries at the UN to emulate the Akshaya Patra model and “bring joy, health, confidence, hope and success to poor children in their own countries.”

Narayana Murthy On India’s Success

The Infosys founder appreciated India’s economic progress and credited the success to the government’s economic policies, vision and the hard work of Indian entrepreneurs and citizens as well as the foreign direct investment from multinationals.

He also spoke about the Indian government’s world’s largest food security programme, Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), which benefits over 800 million people.

For children, there is the school feeding programme PM POSHAN (Poshan Shakti Nirman) scheme which directly benefits over 118 million children.

(With Inputs From PTI)