Articles by Madan Gopal Jajoo

Restoration of Corporate Monarchy?
Madan Gopal Jajoo The charade of corporate democracy, which has been advanced as the justification for handing over Larsen and Toubro to the Ambanis a second time, rests on the chameleon-like acts of the financial institutions, with vital information deliberately withheld from the shareholders.

assumptions about the impact of the Gulf crisis, an estimate for 1990-91 is given in the Table. Two scenarios have been presented, the one assumes an oil import of 26.6 million tonnes (19.5 million tonnes of crude oil and 7.1 million tonnes of products) about the same as in 1989-90 and the second scenario assumes a slightly higher import of 29.6 million tonnes (22.5 million tonnes of crude oil and 7.1 million tonnes of products). The first scenario assumes the average crude oil price for the period August 1990-March 1991 at S32 a barrel and the second scenario has been calculated at a price of $32 a barrel. In both the scenarios, account has been taken of a reduction in imports of Rs 2,500 crore planned by the government, but assumes a 12 per cent increase in non-oil import prices.

to evolve criteria for fixation of minimum wages in all the 40 years which have elapsed, since the Minimum Wages Act 1948 was enacted.
In sharp contrast to the West Bengal government has not only evolved a criteria for fixing minimum wages but has been periodically revising them as well. The West Bengal government fixes minimum farm wages on the assumption of (a) consumption of food equivalent to 2,200 calories per unit per day, (b) assumption of three adult consumption units in a family, (c) consumption of 72 yards of clothing per family in a year and (d) an amount equivalent to 25 per cent to cover housing, fuel, light, medical and educational expenses.

The many bulwarks erected under law to protect the shareholders' interests crumbled without even token resistance when faced with the Ambanis' grand design in the Larsen & Toubro affair. The auditors of L &T now have the responsibility of conveying to the shareholders their views on the acts of omission and commission by the board of directors of the company. Will they prove equal to the task?

The L & T Saga Madan Gopal Jajoo In Indian conditions, the task of assessing the past performance and future prospects of companies which approach the public with large share issues must devolve on financial market agencies, most importantly the public sector financial institutions. The L & T case, however, shows the financial institutions' total failure to safeguard the public interest.