RSS associated mouthpiece Panchjanya has accused Infosys of acting at the behest of anti-national forces and more, due to the glitches in the new Income Tax portal. Infosys won the contract for the new portal in 2018, and the portal was launched in June. Over two months later, glitches continue to mar the site. The RSS mouthpiece also questioned opposition party involvement and about potential influence of China and ISI over the glitches. .
Panchjanya is a weekly magazine, and for the magazine’s September 5 edition, the magazine has decided to take on Infosys. While questioning if Infosys is as negligent in services it exports, the article also raises the point about Infosys being the vendor which built the GST portal and the MCA-21 portal as well, which too was marred by glitches.
“There are allegations that Infosys management is deliberately trying to destabilise the Indian economy,” the report says, without mention of who has made the allegation and the proof to back this allegation. The article, written by Chandra Prakash, goes on to question how Infosys always takes important government projects by bidding so low, and says that the glitches have broken the confidence of taxpayers. Infosys was awarded the contract after an open tender, according to the Union government.
“Is it that some anti-national power is trying to hurt India’s economic interests through Infosys? We do not have any solid evidence to say this, but looking at the history and circumstances of the company, some facts may be seen in this allegation,” the piece says.
The article further goes on to say that Infosys has been accused many times of helping “Naxalites, leftists and tukde-tukde gangs”, and that there is direct or indirect cooperation of Infosys in many “disruptive activities” in the country.
It also adds that Infosys is believed to fund propaganda websites and fact checkers. It alleges that beneficiaries of Infosys’ charity (believed to be the Infosys Foundation) are some organizations engaged in spreading caste hatred as well. “Shouldn’t the promoters of Infosys be asked what are the reasons behind its funding to anti-national and anarchist organisations?” it questions. (You can check the list of grants by the Infosys Foundation here).
The article then claims that the reason to suspect a conspiracy is political as well, and that Opposition leaders are silent on this. “People are asking whether some private companies are trying to create disorder at the behest of the Congress?” it says.
Furthermore, it says that founder Narayana Murthy’s opposition to the current dispensation is known, that Nandan Nilekani has contested elections on a Congress ticket, and Infosys puts people of a particular ideology in important positions.
“If such a company will take important contracts from the Government of India, then will there not be a possibility of influence of China and ISI in it?” the article claims.
It blames the glitches of the I-T portal on corrupt government bureaucracy, stating that it worked properly after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman intervened. A financial penalty can be levied on the company and it can be blacklisted for future, it adds.
The piece also brings George Soros into the picture, and says that Infosys’ mess is a sign of a bigger conspiracy. It refers to the SONG Fund that involved Soros’ Open Society Foundation and Google.org — and that they bought a company related to Aadhaar and then closed it down a few days later — and links it to an allegation that this deal was for stealing Aadhaar data. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met Infosys CEO Salil Parekh in August and told him about the government’s “deep disappointment and concern” over the glitches in the new income tax filing portal and set September 15 as the deadline for the software major to resolve all snags.
