New Delhi/Bengaluru, Mar 8 (PTI) Engineer-turned-philanthropist and author Sudha Murty was nominated to Rajya Sabha on Friday, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauding her contribution in diverse fields.
Murty, 73, the former chairperson of Infosys Foundation, is also renowned for her contribution to Kannada and English literature and is a recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Bal Sahitya Puraskar, Padma Shri (2006) and Padma Bhushan (2023).
Murty, who was the first woman engineer to have worked with TELCO, is famously known to have provided the seed capital of Rs 10,000 from her emergency funds to her husband N R Narayana Murthy to start Infosys, which has a market cap of over 80-billion-dollars.
Her nomination to the Upper House of Parliament coincided with International Women's Day.
Murty holds a 0.83 percent stake in Infosys which at current prices is worth close to Rs 5,600 crore. Her daughter, Akshata, is married to UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Modi asserted in a post on X that her presence in the Upper House is a powerful testament to "Nari Shakti" (women power), exemplifying the strength and potential of women in shaping the nation's destiny.
"I am delighted that the President of India has nominated Sudha Murty Ji to the Rajya Sabha. Sudha Ji's contributions to diverse fields including social work, philanthropy and education have been immense and inspiring," the prime minister said and wished her a fruitful tenure.
Murty thanked the prime minister and said she was grateful for the opportunity to serve the nation.
"It is my privilege and honour to be nominated to the Rajya Sabha by our Hon'ble President of India Smt. Droupadi Murmu Ji," Murty said on X.
Speaking to PTI from Thailand, Murty said she was happy and pleasantly surprised to have been nominated to Rajya Sabha.
"It came on Women's Day and that's a double surprise. I am very happy. I am grateful to our Prime Minister," she said.
"I have to see what the things are ...what I can do. This is a new area to me. So, I have to first sit and study and then I will be able to do it," Murty said in response to questions on her role as a Rajya Sabha member.
Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman, Anurag Thakur and Hardeep Puri greeted Murty on her nomination to the Rajya Sabha.
"Congratulations @SmtSudhaMurty – you are known for achievements in different spheres of activity. Equally, if not more, your inner strength rooted in our civilisational values makes you stand out. Looking forward to working together in the House," said Sitharaman, who is a Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka.
Thakur said Murty's life and achievements were an inspiration to all and a shining example of the potential that a woman holds.
"Her contributions to education, healthcare, and disaster relief have been enormous. I'm sure that her presence in the Rajya Sabha will enrich the understanding of the members and demonstrate the power of Nari Shakti in guiding our policy-making," the Information and Broadcasting Minister said on X.
Murty has authored several books in Kannada, Marathi and English and specialises in children's literature.
Her novel, Dollar Bahu, originally written in Kannada and translated into English, was adapted into a televised series by Zee TV in 2001.
Another Kannada novel 'Runa' was adapted into a Marathi film in 2003.
Her book – 'The Bird with the Golden Wings' has been adapted into a Netflix series, and 52 stories from her books have been made into an animation show called 'Story Time with Sudha Amma'.