Though a highly qualified engineer, Sudha Murthy chose to involve herself in taking up social
development work in villages and small towns. Give your opinion on her decision.
Answers
On December 16, 1996 that Sudha Murty started the Infosys Foundation as a trus tee alongside NS Raghavan (Infosys cofounder) and GR Naik (finance head). None of them had a social science background but were determined to make a difference to the poorest of the poor. Since then, the author and engineer has touched lives of people through her work in education, healthcare, destitute care, rural development, and the arts. She spoke to ET about the journey that started with a purse of Rs 30 lakh 1996 to touch Rs 450 crore 19 years later.Edited excerpts:
Looking back, what was it that you set out to do and what have you achieved?
We started with a clean board in 1996. But I was always inclined to social service because of my work with the Tatas.They were simple people who loved their country through philanthropy. Initially, we decided to allocate 20 per cent each to the five focus sectors. The first priority is food, then education and healthcare.Only after your stomach is full do you think of art. So we stopped fixing percentages. Our maximum donation amount was Rs 20 crore till 2014. Interestingly, last year alone, we spent Rs 243 crore, more than (Rs 200 crore) we had donated in 18 years. We have built 13,000 toilets in government schools, empowered devadasis and educated children.