The Hindu : Opinion / Letters to the Editor : Satyam scam

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Tuesday, Jan 13, 2009
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Opinion

Opinion - Letters to the Editor

Satyam scam

Ramalinga Raju, former chairman of Satyam Computer Services Limited, has laid bare the gross inadequacies in India’s corporate regulatory framework, reduced to nought investors, cocked a snook at the numerous awards he and his company won, paid taxes on income which his company did not earn and, finally, ended up in jail. Surely, he would have known that the fudging game that he indulged in would not go undiscovered. Why, then, did he fudge the accounts for years?

T.T. Krishnan,

Mumbai

* * *

That despite a plethora of rules and regulations, the Satyam scam remained unnoticed for years is sad and depressing. The scam shows that control or no control, stakeholders and the government get easily hoodwinked by unscrupulous corporates.

A. Saratchandran Menon,

Palakkad

* * *

In a remarkable essay titled Why Socialism? in 1949, Albert Einstein said: “Unlimited competition leads to ... crippling of the social consciousness of individuals ... This crippling of individuals I consider the worst evil of capitalism.” The Reaganite brand of free market capitalism which glorifies greed inevitably carries such crippling to intolerable limits and leads to corruption and crime.

S.S. Kaimal,

Thiruvananthapuram

* * *

The auditors of Satyam have failed in their duty. The auditors of a company side with the management, not the shareholders, because they are appointed virtually by the Board even though their appointment is formally approved by the general body.

I think the shareholders should be given a fair picture of the company’s auditors.

K. Natarajan,

Coimbatore

* * *

The Satyam scam is no doubt the worst in the Indian corporate history. But no country is immune to such developments. We need to deal with the scam’s fallout. The government should complete the investigations as soon as possible so that our reputation as a responsible nation does not suffer. As for Satyam’s employees, they have been doing their best for the company. They should be given suitable opportunities to work.

George Easaw,

Bangalore

* * *

This refers to media reports that IT majors will not recruit Satyam staff. What has happened in Satyam is a shock for the whole country. But no one can imagine what the employees of Satyam are going through right now. Reports like these will further discourage and demoralise them. Nobody has the right not to recruit them just because their company chairman fudged the accounts. This is the time to stand by them.

Pranav Anand,

Hyderabad

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