Panchjanya’s criticism of Infosys is absolutely spot on

RSS affiliate publication Panchjanya recently released its monthly magazine where the cover story targeted and criticised IT behemoth Infosys for providing assistance to anti-national elements of the country viz. Naxals, Leftists and Tukde Tukde Gang.

In the cover story titled “Saakh Aur Aaghaat” (Reputation and Harm), Panchjanya alleged this was not the first time Infosys had done shoddy work when handling a government project. Citing problems in websites for Income tax, GST and Ministry of Corporate Affairs, the magazine remarked:

“When these things happen repeatedly, it is bound to raise suspicion. There are accusations that the Infosys management is deliberately trying to destabilise India’s economy… Could it be that some anti-national power is trying to harm India’s economic interests through Infosys?”

Infosys’ founder and promoters’ ideology 

The magazine continued its onslaught on the company and added, “Infosys is accused of providing assistance to Naxals, Leftists and Tukde Tukde Gang. The issue of Infosys directly or indirectly supporting divisive forces in the country has already come out in the open. It is believed (that) misinformation websites… are funded by Infosys. Some organisations that spread caste hatred are also beneficiaries of Infosys’s charity. Shouldn’t Infosys promoters be asked what is the reason for the company’s funding of anti-national and anarchist organisations? Should companies of such suspect character be allowed to participate in the government-tendering process?”

The magazine also questioned the allegiances of Nandan Nilekani, one of the promoters of the IT giant who has fought previously on a Congress ticket.

“One of the promoters of Infosys is Nandan Nilekani who has contested Lok Sabha polls on a Congress ticket. Company’s founder NR Narayana Murthy’s opposition to the incumbent government’s ideology is not hidden from anyone. Infosys appoints people subscribing to a certain ideology on important posts… If such a company gets important government tenders, wouldn’t there be a threat of influence from China and the ISI?”

Read more: Infosys founder and chairman Narayana Murthy in big mess as CAIT pushes for investigation against him for colluding with Amazon

Hitesh Shankar, the Editor of Panchjanya took to Twitter to share that the magazine stood by its report and if the company had any problem, it should present its side.

The IT website fiasco

As reported by TFI, last month, the Income-tax department has sent the technology giant in a fit of panic and tizzy by tweeting about the inefficiency of the Income Tax website. In its tweet, the IT Department announced that Infosys’ Managing Director (MD) and CEO, Sunil Parikh had been summoned “to explain to the Finance Minister as to why even after 2.5 months since the launch of new e-filing portal, glitches in the portal have not been resolved.”

The portal – www.incometax.gov.in has had a bumpy start since it went live on June 7 as taxpayers, tax professionals and other stakeholders reported glitches in its functioning. The portal has been developed by the company, and one would expect the famed company’s products to have no issues whatsoever. However, major glitches in the portal led to annoying taxpayers venting out their anger against the dysfunctional product developed by Infosys.

Read More: Understanding why IT Department summoned Infosys CEO Salil Parikh

Interestingly, the government has paid Rs 164.5 crore till June 2021 to the IT giant to build the new income tax e-filing portal between January 2019 and June 2021. It must be mentioned that the finance minister – Nirmala Sitharaman had called a meeting on June 22 with key officials of Infosys to review the issues on the portal. Yet, noting that the issues had not been resolved despite the meeting, the government decided to fix the company’s accountability in the public domain.

Read More: The Infosys debacle shows the extreme shallowness of Indian IT companies

The netizens at the time had called the IT giant out for its blotchy work culture. Atul Mishra, the founder of TFI had tweeted, “Infosys grossly underpays its engineers and its famed training is a sham. It trains Infosys stuff to Infosys people to do Infosys work. Infy employees are clueless when they step out. But the top management enjoys the bidding war spoils. Good thing that the gov is nailing them.”

The magazine raises an important point. There is a clear pattern in the way the company operates. The government whilst giving it the tender of big national projects also risks the prospect of losing the data of the crores of Indian citizens to the wrong hands. Thus, Infosys needs to pull its socks, start a cleaning process and come up with better and much more furnished products, otherwise, the furore would only continue to grow.