Satyam. Raju. Forged accounts. Fake employees. Inflated figures. More forged accounts. No doubt ‘Enron of India’ has just confirmed our claim to fame as a ‘global superpower’. And yes, comparing the enormity of the fraud with that of Enron’s, we are now true competitors on a global platform. So just like 9/11 of India is slowly fading away, ‘Enron of India’ shall pass too in the same way if we don’t consider it as one of the most important case studies in the history of our corporate frauds. Two questions lie before us. How many more Satyams do we have in our corporate kitty? What is there for us to learn from this saga?
To answer the first question actually depends on We The People. If we treat this fraud as serious as 26/11 and pressurize the government in the same way, even an ephemeral collective out pour from our side could at least expose some part of the iceberg or clear the air about companies like Wipro which, like Satyam, have been blacklisted by World Bank. How can every citizen contribute? Any employee can certainly be a whistleblower (they get huge rewards these days) whenever he senses foul play in the company where he/she works in. Of course, losing a job in these days would be one of the reasons one might not want to do that. But losing one’s integrity on any day is probably the worst fraud one can do with oneself.
Secondly, Learn? For us there is not much except that we must introspect and throw away the Raju inside us, whether he lures us to steal Rs 10 or 10 million. Educational institutions must act collectively and impart moral and ethical lessons at various levels in a creative fashion. Being creative here is important. We don’t want such an important subject to become like Physics or Mathematics, where huge lessons in truck-load of books are studied inside classrooms and hardly make their way outside in the everyday life of an individual. Gandhigiri in books was hardly being practised in our modern India. But when Sanjay Dutt marketed it creatively, it at least made people aware and now even has many young people subscribing to it.
Jeffrey Skilling, the Enron-chief, was sentenced to more than 24 years in prison. I am sure our Mr. Raju must have read this piece of news. If such punishments do not act as deterrents, they hold no meaning at all. I ask the Indian Judiciary to get real. Like most other thugs, the Rajus were seeking fame. So before the court sentences Raju into some custom made palatial prison for umpteen years, let him be given a perfect goodbye, at least by his shareholders. New Delhi’s central park in Connaught place Place has a huge pole where a man can be tied and the park can accommodate all shareholders easily. Shoes please.
To answer the first question actually depends on We The People. If we treat this fraud as serious as 26/11 and pressurize the government in the same way, even an ephemeral collective out pour from our side could at least expose some part of the iceberg or clear the air about companies like Wipro which, like Satyam, have been blacklisted by World Bank. How can every citizen contribute? Any employee can certainly be a whistleblower (they get huge rewards these days) whenever he senses foul play in the company where he/she works in. Of course, losing a job in these days would be one of the reasons one might not want to do that. But losing one’s integrity on any day is probably the worst fraud one can do with oneself.
Secondly, Learn? For us there is not much except that we must introspect and throw away the Raju inside us, whether he lures us to steal Rs 10 or 10 million. Educational institutions must act collectively and impart moral and ethical lessons at various levels in a creative fashion. Being creative here is important. We don’t want such an important subject to become like Physics or Mathematics, where huge lessons in truck-load of books are studied inside classrooms and hardly make their way outside in the everyday life of an individual. Gandhigiri in books was hardly being practised in our modern India. But when Sanjay Dutt marketed it creatively, it at least made people aware and now even has many young people subscribing to it.
Jeffrey Skilling, the Enron-chief, was sentenced to more than 24 years in prison. I am sure our Mr. Raju must have read this piece of news. If such punishments do not act as deterrents, they hold no meaning at all. I ask the Indian Judiciary to get real. Like most other thugs, the Rajus were seeking fame. So before the court sentences Raju into some custom made palatial prison for umpteen years, let him be given a perfect goodbye, at least by his shareholders. New Delhi’s central park in Connaught place Place has a huge pole where a man can be tied and the park can accommodate all shareholders easily. Shoes please.
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