Seven jobs for Raju

D. Murali

Chennai: The hottest glasshouse that is getting stoned is Satyam’s, and we have already lost count of the number of fingers getting pointed at Raju, if the flow of opinions about the big, hairy and audacious corporate fraud is any indication. Soon enough, there are those who wonder if after quitting as Chairman, and being prepared to subject himself to the laws of the land, he would henceforth be breaking stones behind iron gates.

Will the story of India Inc, written twenty years later, recount Raju’s tale as the nadir that the country had to pass through at an inopportune period? Or, will the chroniclers see him as the first who unburdened his troubled conscience in vivid detail?

While an answer to these questions may have to wait, here are a few suggestions as to what jobs we can get Raju to do, forthwith, rather than preoccupy ourselves and him with stones that can otherwise go into building better infrastructure.

First, get him to advise the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India on where the big holes are in the Accounting Standards that whales manage to swim through happily.

Second, give him the financial statements of the top companies and ask him to tell us in total confidence where to dig deeper. Third, instruct Raju to deliver pithy lectures, in every town and village, school and college, on why corporate fraud doesn’t pay in the long run, and why it is no fun riding a tiger because you may not know how to get off without being eaten.

Four, very important, let him guide analysts on the right approach to company assessment. Five, on a related note, put Raju on an investor guidance forum to help the lay cut the clutter that the maze of financial statements often project. Six, counsel corporate chiefs who wish to come clean.

And seven, write a cookbook that should be prescribed study for CA exams!