I don't endorse RSS ideology: Wipro's Azim Premji

Wipro chairman Azim Premji has made it clear that his sharing the dais with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat should not be seen as an “endorsement” of the right-wing organisation’s views and said it amounted to accepting the differences and working together.

Premji attended on Sunday an event organised by 'Rashtriya Sewa Bharati', a Sangh body that supports various organisations in the field of social work.

He said there were apprehensions that attending the event may appear to be endorsing the "ideology" of the Sangh.

“Some people had advised me that attending the event could appear as endorsing the ideology of the Sangh. I did not follow the advice because I am not a political person and I know that speaking here does not mean that I endorse all views of the organisation,” Premji said at the function in New Delhi.

The IT czar also gave his views on difference of opinion saying “we should learn to work with people with whom we have differences and focus on reaching the common ground.

“There should not be dissonance and distortion,” he said, while stating that all should work for building “equitable, just, sustainable and corruption free” India.

Premji came out with this clarification before he started speaking on the need to increase public expenditure on school and higher education, which has gone down in the budget for financial year 2014-15.

“The test of our social commitment and humanity is how we treat the most powerless of our fellow citizens, the respect we accord to our fellow human beings. That is what reveals our true culture,” Premji added.

In the session also attended by GM Rao, chairperson of infrastructure company GMR, and Zee Network chairperson Subhash Chandra, Premji said private education providers cannot be alternative to public funded high quality education and suggested six steps to improve quality of education.

To become a truly great country, work is needed on several fronts like elimination of corruption, safety for women, children and disadvantaged sections and support for the poverty-stricken, he stressed.