KOCHI: A dalit woman entrepreneur has alleged that she was kicked out from her office in Techno Lodge, the first rural IT Park promoted by the State Government at Thirumarady panchayat near Piravam.
Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, Soumya Devi, who promoted a venture called Be Positive, based at the Techno Lodge alleged that she was thrown out for being a dalit.
Ms Devi has acknowledged that she has defaulted on paying the rent for the past five months due to financial constraints. Although I have conveyed the difficulties, the authorities of the Techno Lodge have declined to provide any relief. Instead, they had insulted me by casting aspersions on my caste, she said.
Renjini Bright, the CEO of the Techno Lodge had said that “why should pulayas without money engage in business? They should go for some other jobs”, said Samad Nedumbasserry of Welfare Party, who was also present in the press conference.
Techno Lodge director Biju Nedunkeri denied the allegation and said that Ms. Devi was asked to vacate the place as she had failed in remitting the rent for the past eight months. She had also behaved in an improper manner with the officers, he added. Be Positive was a firm mainly engaged in data entry related works.
