Bangalore: In February this year, Infosys board and the company’s founders were at loggerheads over high payouts to current and former Infosys employees. The row continued for over a fortnight before the 2 parties called for an uneasy truce. The issue has now resurfaced after a 40-day lull.
Co-founder and former Chairman of Infosys, Narayana Murthy, had on Sunday criticized the salary hike doled out to Chief Operating Officer (COO) U B Pravin Rao calling the governance standards at the company “poor”. Murthy, in an email sent out to media, said, “Those of us who have always stood for fairness in compensation and practiced it, right from the day Infosys was founded, will have to demonstrate it when needed. This is a time when it is needed. Nothing more and nothing less.” He expressed his displeasure at the disproportionate lowest and highest salary in a corporation, adding that a salary increase of 60-70 percent of top-level executives is unfair most employees received only 6-8 percent raise.
Former Infosys Board member TV Mohandas Pai has also come out in support of Murthy on this issue and said that Murthy has raised some very legitimate concerns and as the Founder he has right to ask questions. “Infosys is a public-listed company and concerns need to be voiced. A larger debate is needed around executive compensation in India,” he said in an interview. "I totally agree with Murthy that it was not proper. We should have Indian norm for compensation; we can't follow American norm, we (Infosys) are not an American company," Pai added.
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