Satyam Fraud - Is Nasscom Sleeping?

Ever since our dear friend Dewang Mehta passed away in Australia many summers ago, Nasscom, the apex association of the Indian IT-BPO companies, has been going downhill.

Dewang’s successors including the present fella heading the organization Som Mittal are just not up to snuff.

After the disclosure today of massive fraud at Satyam, the Rip Van Winkles of Nasscom put out an effete statement expressing shock:

NASSCOM, the apex body of the IT-BPO industry in India expressed its shock at the disclosures made by Mr. Ramalinga Raju today. While the law will take its course , this incident is particularly unfortunate as the Indian IT-BPO industry had set very high standards of ethics and corporate governance.Â This is a stand-alone case of failure of corporate governance and it is critical that it be viewed in this light.

We are sure that all the stakeholders would also treat this as an isolated issue. This is not in any manner a reflection on the industry or corporate India. We will ensure that customers and other stakeholders get the right perspective. We will also work with the Satyam Task Force to reach out to their customers and employees and guide them through the transition.

NASSCOM advocates the highest standards of ethics for the industry and we will work with our membership to re-commit to maintaining the highest standards of governance and transparency.

Well, talk is cheap.

Yeah, mere idle talk after the crooked horse has bolted from the stable.

If you look at Nasscom’s objectives or the president’s message on its web site, there’s not a pip squeak about ethics or corporate governance.

We’d like to know what concrete steps Nasscom has taken over the last 12 months in ensuring high standards of ethics and corporate governance at least among its top members.

After all, Satyam is India’s fourth largest IT services exporter.

Most likely, Nasscom has done very little in ensuring high standards of ethics and corporate governance.

The only mantra is growth. Everything else be damned.

Nasscom chief Som Mittal has been heading the organization for about a year now.

What has the fella been doing apart from putting his blah blah blah quotes on the press releases issued by the organization.

Maybe, it’s time for Som Mittal to go.