Former minister and BRS working president K T Rama Rao accused that the Congress government was engaged in digital vandalism by removing vital content pertaining to the previous BRS administration from Telangana government websites and social media handles.
He said that initially it was attributed to “maintenance issues.” But, he expressed apprehensions that this was a deliberate act of digital vandalism, possibly involving people at the helm of the affairs. He highlighted that thousands of photos, videos, and texts from the tenure of former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao (June 2014 – December 2023) were removed.
He asserted that this digital content was crucial for historical archiving and should have been preserved, besides it was funded by public money. He sought for immediate intervention of Chief Secretary A Santhi Kumari and immediate redressal of the issue.
“After the Congress party formed the government in December 2023, vital content on Telangana government websites and social media handles began disappearing. Some important websites were also taken down,” he said.
If the new government decided not to host it on official platforms, KTR advised that it should be archived rather than deleted. He cautioned that future generations will not forgive the destruction of this valuable public property and stressed the importance of preserving the State’s digital records.
Moreover, KTR cautioned Santhi Kumari that as the Chief Secretary, she was responsible to safeguard all material, physical, and digital assets of the State. He also assured to send a detailed letter outlining the issue, including links to the websites and social media handles where information was deleted.
The key concerns raised by KTR included the State History Page (https://www.telangana.gov.in/about/history/), which though it had a brief history of Telangana from the prehistoric period to the State formation, was deleted. The reports Page (https://www.telangana.gov.in/reports/), which hosted significant reports released by the Government of Telangana between 2014-2023. He also mentioned the Telangana CM website (https://cm.telangana.gov.in/), from which all content related to the tenure of erstwhile Chief Minister K Chandrashekkar Rao, from June 2, 2014, to December 3, 2023, was removed.
Telangana CMO social media handles on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter (X) and Instagram, from where thousands of photos, videos and texts related to KCR’s tenure were also removed.
