Voicing its strong opposition to a bailout package by the government for scandal-hit Satyam, the CPI(M) has demanded that the 17,500 acre acquired by the company along with two other Maytas firms instead be confiscated to pay for the salaries of the 53,000 strong workforce.
In an editorial in the party?s mouthpiece ??People?s Democracy??, senior leader Sitaram Yechury has contended that while there was widespread concern about the welfare of Satyam employees, a bailout package at the expense of taxpayers? money was not the answer. The party has also sought an investigation into the ??largesse?? shown by the Congress government in the state in allotting public land to the companies belonging to the family of its chief B Ramalinga Raju and also whether the profits of Satyam were used to acquire assets by eight other firms owned by them, including Maytas Properties and Maytas Infra.
??It is high time that the prime minister and his cronies in the planning commission live up to their so far hollow rhetoric of not wishing to legitimise, leave alone permit, crony capitalism. This entire episode, once again, reconfirms the saying: Deceit, thy name is capitalism,?? Yechury wrote. Charging that three companies owned by the Raju family had ??humongous real estate assets??, Yechury said ??these must be confiscated and converted into cash assets from which the employees? welfare must be safeguarded.??
The CPI(M) leader said it was ??simply unbelievable?? that the ??colossal financial swindle with cooked up account books?? had surprisingly remained undetected for so many years and added that Raju?s recent confession ??appears to mask a larger loot and swindle??. Yechury said Satyam, Maytas Properties and Maytas Infra had been given a total of over 17,408 acre by the Andhra Pradesh government at ten places in the state.
He said the exaggeration of the health of the company and its profit margins contributed over the years in keeping the share prices of Satyam high on the stock market. ??Thus, by orchestrating a false high price, the sale of shares would have raked in undue super profits. By selling shares when the prices are high, the profits could be used to acquire real assets elsewhere.??