Govt not to turn a blind eye to Satyam layoffs: Khursheed

The Government on Sunday said it will not turn a “blind eye” to the issue of layoffs in Satyam Computer Services, which has now been acquired by Mahindra and Mahindra group firm Tech Mahindra.

“Layoffs — this is something we are not going to turn a blind eye to as we have a relevant presence in decision making,” Minister for Corporate Affairs Salman Khursheed told PTI.

He was responding to queries on comments by Tech Mahindra CEO Vineet Nayyar that there were 10,000 surplus people in the Hyderabad-based IT firm. Later, there were reports that Satyam was planning to lay off about 8,000 non-billable (non-II) staff in departments like marketing, human resources and administration.

Emphasising that his ministry will liaise with the company on this issue, Khursheed said, “We will not allow the company to be taken for a ride ... Our opinion and advice (are) important till Satyam reaches a Sundaram stage (till everything improves).”

Coining the strategy for the IT company as Satyam, Shivam and Sundaram, Khursheed said that Satyam was passing through the Shivam stage, necessitating hard decisions. “At the Shivam stage, some hard steps ... will be taken for rebuilding the confidence...We will try to be as sensitive as possible. We would certainly coordinate on that (layoffs),” the minister said.

When asked if the Satyam case was the tip of the iceberg, Khursheed said, “I would call it a symptom of something wrong in the system. You need to treat the system, the root ... Otherwise the symptom may reappear. If I call it a tip, it means I am saying there is an iceberg.”

On inspecting the books of accounts of 150 companies, including DLF, ordered by former minister PC Gupta, Khursheed said if some probe had been ordered, it would be taken to its logical conclusion.

The government had superseded the board of Satyam and appointed six nominee directors. Later, the Company Law Board allowed Tech Mahindra to appoint four nominee directors on board.