The Telangana government’s decision to reopen the investigation into the functioning of Globarena Technologies has revived a politically sensitive controversy surrounding the processing of Intermediate examination results in 2019.
The issue has regained attention amid broader protests over education-related matters, including the NEET controversy and criticism of examination and evaluation systems.
The controversy has also brought Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and former Telangana minister K T Rama Rao into the political crossfire, with the Congress government seeking to revive allegations surrounding the company.
Globarena, which is now reportedly operating under the name Coempt Edutech, had secured the contract for processing Telangana Intermediate examination results in 2019. The company has remained at the centre of political allegations for several years.
The Congress has repeatedly alleged that Globarena was linked to KTR as a benami company. KTR has denied the allegations and has reportedly issued a legal notice over the claims.
The controversy has returned to the spotlight following a Vigilance and Enforcement inquiry into how Globarena secured the contract and handled the processing of Intermediate results.
According to reports, a Vigilance and Enforcement team recently visited the Telangana State Board of Intermediate Education office and questioned Ashok, who served as the board secretary in 2019.
He was reportedly questioned for nearly four hours. Investigators are understood to have sought details about the decision-making process behind the tender and the integration of systems used for processing examination results.
Earlier, separate agencies were reportedly involved in pre-examination and post-examination processes. Investigators questioned who had taken the decision to integrate these systems.
Ashok is understood to have told investigators that the proposal was based on recommendations from consultants. Questions were also reportedly raised about why tenders had to be invited twice and why certain tender conditions were later modified.
Officials are also examining the circumstances under which Globarena eventually secured the contract.
The Vigilance inquiry is reportedly looking into the entire sequence of events, including the tender process initiated in 2018, Globarena securing the contract for more than Rs 4.57 crore, and the company handling the March 2019 Intermediate examination results.
The latest questioning of the former board secretary indicates that the probe has moved beyond a preliminary examination of documents and into direct questioning of officials involved in the decision-making process.
The issue carries considerable political significance because Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has already publicly challenged KTR over the allegations surrounding Globarena. He also referred to allegations concerning the deaths of 23 Intermediate students and questioned whether irregularities linked to the company had contributed to the crisis.
Revanth Reddy had earlier indicated that the government would expose the alleged irregularities and order a Vigilance inquiry. The launch of the probe has therefore given the Telangana government an opportunity to revisit a controversy that has remained politically contentious since 2019.
The investigation could have wider political consequences if Vigilance authorities uncover evidence of procedural violations, irregularities in the tender process or other lapses.
The political significance of the inquiry is also considerable, as the issue could provide the Congress government with an opportunity to target both the BJP and the BRS, though on different fronts.
