Ramalinga Raju's village still blesses him

For the whole world B Ramalinga Raju may be a villain, after the startling revelation of fraud in the company he founded, but for residents of his native village in West Godavari district, he is still a good samaritan.

The non-descript village, Garagaparru, shot into the limelight with Satyam Computer growing to become the fourth largest IT firm in the country.

The villagers hail the development works undertaken by the Byrraju Foundation, the charitable arm of Satyam, and consider Raju as a good man.

"He has done many development works in this region. We hope he will tide over the present crisis," Rama Raju, a villager said.

Several other villagers have expressed similar feelings. The Satyam issue is the hot topic in the village ever since Raju tendered his resignation as chairman of the company.

The Byrraju Foundation has taken up a number of development work in the fields of education, health, drinking water and several others in hundreds of villages in the coastal districts of West Godavari, East Godavari, Krishna, Visakhapatnam and others.

However, the developments in the company came as a shock to hundreds of shareholders in the West Godavari district. "I have lost Rs 64,000. Many others in the town too lost large amounts," a shareholder in Eluru, who refused to be named, said.

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