Is Mr Ramalinga Raju being given his due ?

All through this blog I want the reader to understand that I do regard that the revelations made by Mr Raju are extremely shocking and shameful. However, I through this blog want to look beyond the most superficial layer and understand the human being before we brand him “FRAUD”. The issue is not as simple as identifying black from white. There are a lot of things that need to be assimilated before jumping to conclusions.

I would like people to understand that the mess that has been uncovered by Mr Raju is not his responsibility alone. It is a collective failure of the team of management that comprises of the Board of Directors and the Senior Management; and the Auditors from PWC. Then why is Mr Raju alone being made the scapegoat?

There are 2 sets of people I am completely not comfortable trusting when it comes to disemmenating information to the general public:
1. Media
2. Politicians

Let me explain why:

Media - I was watching a news channel and was thoroughly annoyed on seeing pictures of Mr Ramalinga Raju crossed over in bright red with FRAUD written in striking bold. This is a very cheap methodology that sadly the Media all over the world ,more so in India is practicing. In their attempt to sensationalize news they resort to techniques that play with the minds of the audiences. The images and stereotypes are brought down to such low IQ levels that people who don’t even know Mr. Ramalinga Raju or Satyam still manage to absorb them. In these times of gossip loving, where idiotic shows like “Big Boss” are the best shows on TV ,criticizing and ridiculing a man of Mr Raju's cadre sells like hot property. This ideally shouldnt be the way the issue is dealt.

Politicians – If there is one political party that has benefitted from Satyam it has to be the TDP. Mr Raju and the ex chief minister N Chandra Babu Naidu were the ones that were responsible for giving the CYBERABAD picture to Hyderabad and sadly there is a news item in which Chandra Babu Naidu says that the Satyam scam was known to the existing Congress Government. The newbie from Praja Rajyam Mr Chiranjeevi says Congress Government is responsible for the fiasco. Every politician pitching in is just in it for mudslinging and gaining political mileage in the process.

Let me remind all these easily forgettable idiots the good that this man has done.
1. Satyam was founded in the year 1987 at a time when many people didn’t know what a computer is, and it now employs 53000 thereby providing them livelihood.
2. The Cyberabad alias for Hyderabad is most often attributed to N Chandra Babu Naidu, with this man's significance always being underplayed. His office was one of the first one's in the Hi-Tec City and so were the contracts.
3. Satyam has started a 108, 104 ambulance operation across 8 states 24x7x365 with the support of the respective governments.
4. If you sit on the Seshadri train from Bangalore to Kakinada you’ll pass through a town by the name “Bhimavaram” in West Godavari district that raised to prominence because of the Byrraju family though not Mr Raju alone.
5. The Byrraju foundation under Mr Raju has ensured that there is a continous water supply in the West Godavari district.

The list is not endless for sure but it runs beyond the number of times the politicians and the media must have thought about the common folk.

The whole plea of mine behind stating all these facts is that the issue is being blown out of proportion by the media and all irrelevant people are trying to take advantage of the situation. There are procedures that the situation demands like putting Mr Raju through a perfect trial but besmirching him is certainly not what he deserves.

I agree that people like Mr Narayana Murthy, Azim Premji , Dhirubhai Ambani are people who brought fame to the country but let me remind you that Mr Raju belongs to that elite list. Satyam is the 4th biggest IT company in India in which IT forms a major contributor to the GDP.

Finally I end requesting everybody to form an impression of him only after understanding him and the fiasco completely.

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PS : As is the case generally I'd like to dedicate this blog ,this time to my younger brother's gtalk status message that read -

The man made a mistake but let’s not forget he has given life to close to 53,000 employees and their families, he made a mistake but he did'nt do it just for his own sake.
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