Following a backlash over plans to shift government offices to T-Hub, the country’s largest start-up incubator, the Telangana government has backtracked, stating that the facility will continue to function solely as an innovation catalyst after Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy’s intervention.
The Congress government had recently decided to shift government offices operating out of private buildings. As part of this exercise, it identified government premises where these offices could be accommodated.
Several offices of the Revenue Department, including stamp and registration offices in Vattinagulapally, Narsingi and Kukatpally, were earmarked for relocation to T-Hub. Since its inception in 2015, T-Hub has been a source of pride for Telangana and was inaugurated in the presence of industrialist Ratan Tata.
Predictably, the move triggered an uproar. The BRS, under whose regime T-Hub was conceived and inaugurated, drew parallels with what it termed disastrous decisions taken by Delhi Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlaq. The party alleged that T-Hub, Telangana’s centre of innovation, was being reduced to shambles under the Congress government.
The outrage prompted an intervention by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, who is currently in the United States on an official visit. Ironically, he had recently been in Davos to attend the World Economic Forum and solicit investments from global firms when the controversial decision to shift Revenue Department offices to T-Hub was taken.
The Chief Minister subsequently spoke to Chief Secretary Ramakrishna Rao over the phone and issued clear instructions that T-Hub should be spared and that government offices operating from private premises should be shifted elsewhere.
A statement issued by the government said: “The Chief Minister emphasised that T-Hub must be recognised solely as a dedicated start-up centre. He made it clear that no other offices should function from T-Hub, which was established as an incubator and innovation catalyst for start-ups, and directed officials to drop any such proposals if they exist.”