The Hindu Business Line : Bolt from the blue for staff

Hyderabad, Jan. 7 It was like a bolt from the blue for the staff of Satyam Computer Services as the news of Chairman Mr B Ramalinga Raju’s resignation for faking numbers broke out. Not that the staff were not expecting something unusual after the $1.6- billion Satyam-Maytas deal got aborted.

“This is not what we are expecting. We thought that the CEO or CFO might be sacked, making them responsible for the controversial deal. We haven’t expected this fudging business even in our wildest dreams,” a Satyam staffer told Business Line, as he walked into the Info City campus at Madhapur, for his afternoon shift.

The mood was of disbelief and suspense at several of the Satyam offices in Hyderabad.

However, a silver lining is that the over-50,000 employees had received their salary for December.

“I got a zero hike in my evaluation. But I’ve got my salary. That’s enough,” a staffer quipped, as he sipped his tea outside the campus in Madhapur.

In the case of a staffer who had recently been transferred from the US, it was a real shocker.

“They have sacked a few hundreds for fudging travel bills last month, causing the company a loss of few lakhs. But what they did know? They fudged Rs 7,000 crore,” he said.

He is more furious because his bills for a few lakhs are yet to be cleared.

The staff have become the target of rumour mongers. As the word spread that their monies might be struck, scores of employees started lining up at ATMs of ICICI Bank.

Some employees were also worried about repayment of loans.

“As salaries have been paid regularly till now we did not have any problem, but I am uncertain about the future”, Mr M. Ravindra, who took a housing loan recently, said.

The Info City, where Mr Raju and other top brass sit, has become a beehive of media activity, with business, national and local channels parking their OB vans, trying to pick a ‘bite’ or two from the staffers.

They were not invited inside. But they were hovering around through out the day, and in the night, hoping a call for an interaction, which never happened.

Investor cries foul: Meanwhile, Mr Vivek Ohra, an investor who bought 800 shares on Tuesday, was furious and made a scene at the entrance, demanding that the management compensate him for the loss he suffered in 24 hours.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Oil officers’ strike hits fertiliser sector

Poser on Raju’s confession after share sale by IL&FS

‘It was like riding a tiger’

Rs 7,000-crore fraud

Satyam spooks market

When a management is intent on committing fraud…

Simple manipulation of revenues & earnings

Bolt from the blue for staff

Gupta talks tough, wants RoC to submit report on Satyam in a week

SEBI team to probe into Satyam share dealings