The Hindu : Business : Banks must support Satyam staff: new board

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jan 13, 2009
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Business

Business

Banks must support Satyam staff: new board

A. Saye Sekhar and Y. Mallikarjun

It urges large clients to release receivables early

Kiran Karnik resigns from EMRI
Deepak Parekh denies any conflict of interest

HYDERABAD: “The banks should be more supportive and liberal as far as Satyam Employees are concerned,” said Deepak Parekh, one of the three directors on the newly-constituted board of Satyam Computers.

Banks’ indifference

On the indifference of banks towards Satyam employees, Mr. Parekh said at a press conference here on Monday that they were all highly talented people and they could get jobs elsewhere, if they wanted. The banks must learn to live with the problem for some time.

Kiran Karnik, another member on the board, said that though the Satyam episode was “unfortunate, tragic and colossal,” it did not mean that the entire IT industry was under cloud. To a query on whether the customers were drifting away from the company, he said Satyam had robust technological background built over 22 years.

Mr. Parekh said that he had interacted with two large well-known multinational corporations which observed that the quality and accuracy of Satyam’s services were far better than several others. The board was planning to urge some large clients to release the receivables early without waiting for the 60-day time to ensure payment of salaries.

Material evidence

To another query, he said: “If there is material evidence against Mr. Raju, we will lodge a complaint. We can’t say whether the money has been diverted. But if it is done, it amounts to fraud and it can be recovered. We will have access to the findings of by SEBI and the Registrar of Companies probing the issue.”

On the new CEO and CFO, he said: “They cannot be produced out of pocket within 24 hours. Besides, nobody wants to leave a decent job and take up the reins of a troubled company.” To another question, he said that they had no plans to talk to Ramalinga Raju now.

Mr. Karnik had resigned from the Emergency Management and Research Institute (EMRI), supported by Mr. Raju’s family, said Mr. Parekh.

He asserted that EXL and WNS, the BPO companies on whose boards he was a director, and Satyam never had competed. He denied that there was any conflict of interest and the Government had taken all these issues into consideration before appointing them, he clarified.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Business