Raju was a gentleman

Corporate India may be spitting venom against the former Satyam chairperson, but his contribution to the IT sector is commendable

A GENIUS? Former Satyam chairperson Ramalinga Raju. file pic

Corporate India may be spitting venom against the former Satyamu00a0 chairperson, but his contribution to the IT sector is commendable

At a time when almost 90 per cent of the corporate world is criticising Satyam's Ramalinga Raju, I have a slightly different opinion.

Let me start by quoting an example from 2006. Young graduates with 50 to 60 per cent plus marks in BTech, with a degree from an average university were desperately hunting for jobs. Whether people accept it or not, the truth remains that Satyam was the ONLY organisation that accepted students who had backlogs, but had cleared them.u00a0

Satyam, the fourth largest IT company in India, created job opportunities for more than 54,000 Indians over these years.

Big break
Satyam training was renowned all over India and the STC training centre produced some of the finest professionals in recent times.u00a0 Satyam gave several freshers that big break and today, they draw lucrative salaries in renowned organisations elsewhere.
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There were thousands that considered their association with Satyam as a status symbol. There were many who made crores by investing in the company's shares. And this company was run by none other than Raju. But today, all what he did goes unnoticed.

Unpardonableu00a0
Whatever Raju did is unpardonable. He should have been more professional in his approach while dealing with Satyam and not treated it like a family affair.

But how can we blame Raju alone for the Satyam scandal. The auditors, Price Waterhouse Coopers, the board of directors, the banks that managed the company's accounts cannot wash their hands off this scam.u00a0
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Raju did everything to save his business. He may have been a selfish father who put a lot at stake for Maytas.

But, he had the courage to own up for his mistake, despite being aware of the consequences. After all, it's human to err.u00a0