New Delhi: The Government-appointed directors of embattled Satyam Computer Services of Satyam in separate video messages posted on the company Intranet on Monday assured the employees that the management was doing everything to protect their interests.
The members of the board are Housing Development and Finance Corp (HDFC) chairman Deepak Parekh, former president of software industry body Nasscom Kiran Karnik, former Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) member C Achuthan, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) mentor Tarun Das, former head of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India T N Manoharan, and Life Insurance Corp nominee S B Mainak.
C Achutan said Satyam is not a sick company as its employees are capable of delivering good service. Deepak Parekh asked the employees to keep patience and have faith.
Meanwhile, Kiran Karnik said Satyam's customers have assured him that they will stick with the company. According to Balakrishna Mainak, the company has very sound assets, which can be used to get loans to revive the company.
But the board members added that it was tough to arrange for funds in these times of slowdown.BOARD TO MEET ON TUESDAY
The board members will meet on Tuesday to pick a new CEO and finalise funding arrangements to ensure the fraud-hit company's smooth operations in the next two months.
The six directors said last Friday that they had shortlisted three candidates for the posts of CEO and chief financial office (CFO) and they will finalise the names this week.
They also said that funding arrangements till March end would be tied up before Jan 28.
At the end of the last meeting, the directors decided to meet for two days, January 26 and January 27. However, since January 26 is Republic Day, they decided to meet only for a day January 27.
The new CEO "will be uniquely qualified to lead the company during this period of transition and will be a leader of global standing and recognition", the directors said after the last meeting.
To meet operational expenses, including salaries and vendor payments, the board said: "Additional funding arrangements are in the final stages of being concluded."
"This is expected to be formally announced before Wednesday, Jan 28, and will address the company's operational needs till end of March 2009," Parekh said.
The board does not have a chairperson. The six directors have left that decision to the government and members are presiding over the meeting by rotation till a chairperson is appointed.
The last meeting, held over two days, was chaired by Das.
Tuesday's meeting will be the fourth meeting of the new board in 15 days. The first meeting took place Jan 12, a day after the government appointed Parekh, Karnik and Achuthan as the new directors, sacking the previous Satyam board following disgraced founder B. Ramalinga Raju's confession of Rs 7,000 crore fraud.
Since January 7, the day Raju confessed to the fraud, Satyam, India's fourth largest software exporter, has been without a CEO. The company's CFO Vadlamani Srinivas also quit January 8.
Ramalinga Raju, his brother B Rama Raju who was Satyam's managing director, and Srinivas are under arrest and lodged in Chanchalaguda jail in Hyderabad. Their bail appeal will be heard by a Hyderabad court January 28. The three were sent to judicial custody till January 31.
Comments
0 comment