New Delhi: Infosys chairman N R Narayana Murthy was on October 1 presented with the prestigious Lal Bahadur Shastri national award for excellence in public administration and management sciences for 2001 by President A P J Abdul Kalam at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The honour carries a cash award of Rs 1 lakh, a plaque and a citation, which described him as "a first generation entrepreneur-manager par excellence, a visionary, a philanthropist and a role model worthy of emulation".

Expressing happiness on being conferred the award, Murthy said, "It is a great pleasure and privilege to receive the honour because Lal Bahadur Shastri was an exceptionally honest, simple, quick decision making and extraordinary leader."

"From the 11,000 Infosysians, I say a big thanks to the jury and we will work hard to exceed their expectations," he remarked.

Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, Disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie and two sons of the late Prime Minister, Anil Shastri and Sunil Shastri were present among others on the occasion.

The two previous awardees were- Prof C K Prahalad and Sam Pitroda.

PTI