It wasn’t right at all: Sitharaman On Panchjanya Calling Infosys 'Anti-national'
Finance Minister said in an interview to CNN-News18 that the government was working with the tech-giant to resolve issues
In an interview with CNN-News18, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that it was not right of Panchjanya to call Infosys anti-national. "That wasn't right. I think they (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) have also made a statement distancing themselves from whoever wrote it. I think that's not called for and rightly people have withdrawn from it. It wasn't right at all,"
She was answering a question related to the controversy that had erupted after the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) backed weekly Hindi magazine, Panchjanya had called the Bengaluru based tech-giant, Infosys, 'anti-national'.
The Controversy:
The magazine, in its cover story titled 'Saakh Aur Aghaat', had criticised Infosys for the technical glitches that have marred the new ITR portal, developed by the company and launched on June 7 this year.
It had also alleged negligence on part of the company in developing the Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) portal and website for the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. The magazine had called it a "conspiracy" to create unrest in the country.
The company was termed anti-national over accusations of funding "propaganda websites" like The Wire, The Scroll and "fake news propagators" such as the Alt-News, and awarding "urban Naxals".
TV Mohandas Pai, former Infosys director known for his pro-BJP stance, had tweeted then, "Demented, crazed writers like this see conspiracies behind every shadow! They are not objective and should be condemned."
The controversy had grown so much that RSS and Panchjanya had to distance themselves from the story. RSS spokesperson, Sunil Ambedkar had to say on Twitter that the article related to issues in the new IT portal were personal views of the author and Panchjanya was not an RSS mouthpiece. The editor of the magazine, Hitesh Shankar, however, stood by the story and had advised everyone to read the article. He called it an issue of the company's incompetence.
The New IT Portal:
It was in 2019 that Infosys was given the contract to develop a new portal for filing income tax returns. The aim was to give a taxpayer-friendly portal, streamline the ITR process and reduce the processing time from 63 days to one day.
Since the launch of the portal on June 7, 2021, technical glitches have marred the ITR process. Certain key utilities like e-proceedings and digital signature certificates are not yet functional, say chartered accountants.
Finance Minister informed in the interview that the company was working with the government and hoped that all the problems would be resolved. "I had called them (company executives) twice (in June and August) and also drew the attention of Nandan Nilekani (co-founder and non-executive chairman of Infosys). They are working together with us and are also being helped by the Institute of Chartered Accountants. We have also brought in some tax experts to work with them. I am hopeful that Infosys will give us the product," she said during the interview.
