Hyderabad: Several incriminating allegations have recently come to the fore regarding the politicisation of state-led organisations, including We-Hub and the TS Innovation Cell (TSIC) ,during the tenure of the previous BRS government. Following the recent resignation of Shanta Thoutam, former chief inovation officer of TSIC, current and former employees spoke to Deccan Chronicle to share how both these organisations, allowed, rather functioned, with a clear mandate to support and serve as a platform to aid the then ruling party. Sharing an instance, a former employee in a senior position at WeHub said that employees were asked to bring in differently-abled women for an event that BRS MLC Kalvakuntla Kavitha was purportedly arranged to address on World Disability Day 2022. “This was back when Kavitha was summoned by the CBI in the Delhi liquor scam. This event was a way to clear her image among people. Eventually, she never turned up. After holding audiences till 8 pm, we finally had to let the women go. When we asked the leadership, primarily WeHub CEO Deepthi Ravula, why an event that had nothing to do with entrepreneurship was being held at their office, there was no reply,” an employee revealed. He said that they later tried to position and pawn off the event as being about entrepreneurship when Kavitha failed to attend. Another employee said that she and her colleagues were openly once chided by Ravula for not greeting then MA&UD minister K.T. Rama Rao visited the premises. An employee of TSIC shared how former CEO Thoutam had “lashed out at her team and subordinates” on December 4, a day after the results of the Telangana Assembly elections were out. “We were yelled at for not voting as per her instructions. She believed our voting efforts added to the loss of the BRS. She threatened to sack us for it,” the admonished and threatened employee said. Another employee of TSIC told Deccan Chronicle that public money was used for political motivations. In an event, `5 lakh was transferred by the organisation for a student fest in 2023. “When questioned why the state was sponsoring such an event, we were told it would help the BRS garner ‘student votes’ and add to KTR’s brand power,” they said. They added that such transfers were approved over WhatsApp and there was no physical paper or eOffice approval of the same. Deepthi Ravula’s colleagues too shared that she was actively campaigning for the BRS from the WeHub premises and chided some of them for not sharing the work. “Pinked, not just inked!” was her message to all, they added. Ravula is along with T-Sat CEO Sailesh Reddy and T-Hub CEO M. Srinivas Rao among a score of political appointees are clinging on to their posts. They have refused to initiate probes or resign despite a plethora of allegations of wrongdoings. Deepthi Ravula and Shanta Thoutam did not respond to multiple attempts made by Deccan Chronicle to get their versions of the allegations. Thoutam resigned recently.
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