The bare truth

'Satyam Computer Services Limited' (SCSL) was named after the sanskrit word for truth. The scam perpetrated by Mr.Ramalinga Raju has been termed 'a blot on image of India Inc.' by none other than our Prime Minster, Sh. Manmohan Singh.

It now appears that way back in 2002, an Income Tax investigation had unraveled a can of worms. A large scale evasion of Income Tax, many incidents of Insider Trading and related matters came to light but the enterprising income tax official was transferred and the files buried.

After the change of governments at the centre and the state of Andhra Pradesh, one would have thought that the new regimes, in the centre and in Andhra Pradesh, would go hammer and tongs after Mr.Raju, till then considered a protege of Mr.Chandra Babu Naidu, the erstwhile Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and an important partner of the NDA government at the centre. However as no such thing happened, it would be fair to assume that either the new regimes are incompetent or that Mr.Raju has managed to win new friends. We all know what is most likely to have happened.

Single-handedly, this man has jeopardised the careers of nearly 53,000 young men and women. He has nearly undone what nearly two decades of economic liberalisation had achieved for India Inc.'s image. After so many decades of the brain drain taking away our talent to pursue their dreams abroad, our young computer software writers and engineering talent had brought the entire western world to virtual dependence on our IT services. The west needed our low-cost IT services to stay viable and India benefitted because of the higher earnings of it's youth. This helped both India and the west.

But Mr.Raju's acts of ommission and commission at SCSL would have created some doubt about our ability to prevent recurrence of such scams. The TV footage of Mr.Raju donning a business suit travelling to the courts in his Mercedes car gives the impression that he is proceeding for a business meeting. If we do not act decisively and fast we might create an impression that political affiliations matter more to us than national economic interest.

It is obvious that Mr. Rama Linga Raju was not alone in this devious and long-duration scam. I pray and hope that good sense prevails upon our politicos and any effort at saving Mr. Raju are abandoned and all those who are guilty are punished forthwith.

Did the PM mislead India ?

At the height of the debate on the Nuclear deal, the PMO was consistent in its assertions that the 123 deal would in no way compromise India's security and sovereignty. The assurance given to the Indian people and parliament was that the Hyde Act would not apply since the various clauses of the 123 deal covered all US concerns and those of the NSG and that India would retain the right to test and that the latest nuclear technology and reactor designs would be forthcoming.

From the US State Department's letter to the US Congress, it now emerges that is not the case. So did the PM mislead the Indian people and Parliament?

The Congress (I) upon the insistence of the PM went as far as risking the government and faced a vote of confidence riddled with, then seen as wild, accusations of a sell-out to US business interests and the PM, Manmohan Singh staking his own position at the altar of his word given ostensibly to US President George Bush. The Left parted ways with the Congress after nearly four and a half years of a somewhat turbulent liaison. It appears the inhibitions of the Left were not without reason.

In a hostile environment and ever-changing geopolitical realities, a large country such as ours, with thousands of miles of International borders and coastlines to guard, can ill-afford to give up its right to test. Tying the Indian nation for ever to a situation of no-testing for the sake of a few thousand megawatts of nuclear power and a few billion dollars of US investment may be the greatest disservice that Manmohan Singh has done to India in his otherwise glorious and unblemished career. Only the future would show if his moves were right or whether the PM would be held accountable by history for compromising India's security and sovereignty.

The above image is courtesy Outlook.