People's Democracy

ANDHRA PRADESH

Satyam Scam: CPI(M) Demands Centre To Appoint Special Team To Investigate

M Venugopala Rao

B V Raghavulu, secretary of the Andhra Pradesh state committee of the CPI(M), demanded that the government of India must take stringent actions against those who were responsible for largescale irregularities committed in Satyam Computer Services. Reacting in a statement immediately after the Enron-like scandal was unfolded, he made it clear that it was not proper to see the fraud merely as a failure of the management in corporate governance.

It would not suffice if the ministry of corporate affairs investigates into the issues relating to shareholders alone, he said. Along with government of India, Securities Exchange Board of India also should intervene in the affair immediately and give importance to protect the interests of 53,000 employees working in Satyam Computers, Raghavulu demanded.

In the present context when speculations were rife on measures like taking over or sale or merger of Satyam Computers with any other organisation, it was the responsibility of the government to see to it that whichever step is taken the interests of each and every employee is protected, he emphasised. He suggested to the government to consider the issue of taking over the organisation in the background of the seriousness of the developments in Satayam Computer Services and the international financial crisis. Raghavulu suggested to the government to take all legal steps to see to it that such frauds do not take place in future.

IT IS RAMALINGA-RAJASEKHARA SCANDAL

Speaking on the occasion of a political conclave held in Nellore on January 8, 2009 Raghalvulu termed the fraud that had come to light in Satyam Computer Services as Ramalinga-Rajasekhara scandal, involving both the CEO of Satyam, Ramalinga Raju and the chief minister, Y S Rajasekhara Reddy. He explained that they tried to launder a sum of Rs 7000 crore belonging to Satyam Computer Services into white money by transferring the same to Maytas Infra and that the state government was involved in it. Reminding that the government had given green signal to Maytas to take up construction works of Bandar port, Raghavulu pointed out that it was normal practice to pay bills after taking up construction works. However, violating regulations, the government had taken steps to pay Rs 335 crore to Maytas in advance and that was giving scope for many doubts, he commented. He demanded that the chief minister must answer on the Ramalinga-Rajasekhara scandal and reveal facts to the public.

MAKE PUBLIC THE AGREEMENTS

Demanding that the government of India must appoint a special investigation team to inquire into Satyam scandal and affairs of Maytas companies, Raghavulu maintained that the affairs between the state government and Maytas also should be included in the issues to be investigated and that the economic agreements between the government and Maytas made public.

Addressing the media at the Party's headquarters, M B Bhavan, on January 12, he pointed out that once the facts were revealed in the investigation, the people themselves would decide who were senseless, the opposition parties or the government. Instead of answering the questions raised by the opposition on the scandal, the chief minister was bluffing and calling the opposition senseless, he said. Raghavulu asked the chief minister whether he could say that there was no connection between Satyam and Maytas and between Maytas and the government. Pointing out that the World Bank had banned Satyam from getting works on the ground that it had offered allurements to get works, Raghavulu made it clear that its sister concern, Maytas, must have offered allurements to get works of projects from the state government. There was nothing to get surprised at Pricewater House Coopers, the auditors of Satyam, appreciating the latter, as it was itself a useless organisation bent on weakening public sector units, Raghavulu commented.

Raghavulu demanded that the chief minister must respond to the news published in some of the newspapers that money was transferred from Satyam to foreign organisations and companies. Raghavulu asked the chief minister as to why the funds released by the government of India to primary health centres for welfare of mothers and children were diverted to 108, 104 schemes of ambulances launched by Satyam. Despite the objections raised by the central government, the state government had allotted 95 per cent of those funds to those schemes run by Satyam, he criticised. Raghavulu lashed out at the state government for transferring Rs 330 crore to Maytas for construction of Bandar port, though the committee of officers advised it not to pay the amount in cash. He also arraigned the government for threatening E Sreedharan of Delhi Metro rail project of issuing legal notice to him for raising questions on the allotment of 296 acres to Maytas for Hyderabad Metro rail project. Raghavulu demanded that the chief minister must explain as to why his government had allotted 50 acres of land in Visakhapatnam to Maytas at the rate of Rs 10 lakh per acre, though the officers concerned had suggested to collect a rate of Rs 20 lakh per acre. The market value of that land was about four crore to five crore rupees per acre, he said. Pointing out that Sinha, the chairman of Maharashtra Airport Authority, had a share of fifty per cent in it, Raghavulu asked whose was the balance share in it. Why was Sinha removed from the chairmanship of that airport authority after the Satyam scandal had seen the light of the day, he asked.

GOVT AIDED & ABETTED SATYAM SCANDAL

Raghalvulu questioned the propriety of the action of the government in getting the agreements it had with Maytas reviewed by the chief secretary, P Ramakantha Reddy. It was like handing over keys to thief, when the chief secretary himself was facing allegations that he himself had partnership in the corruption of Yelugubanti Suryanarayana, another officer in the government, Raghavulu commented. He demanded that the government must make public the report of review conducted by the chief secretary. He found fault with the government for acting in a way to protect the real culprits. Did not the chief minister, who was saying that the government was examining whether Maytas had the financial capability, know its financial capability before works were entrusted to it, Raghavulu asked. Reminding that it was propagated that Satyam would purchase the properties of Maytas, Raghavulu asked whether the government did not know it in advance. There were agreements worth Rs 40,000 crore between the government and Maytas, he said. Raghavulu also made it clear he had no objection to conducting inquiry into the Telugu Desam Party's relation, if any, with Satyam scandal. Raghavulu accused the government of getting Ramalinga Raju arrested, after consulting with the police and lawyers, to enable him to escape from the inquiry into Satyam scandal by SEBI. He asserted that the government itself aided and abetted the Satyam scandal.