Selected teachers of Mega DSC organized ‘Atma Gaurava Garjana’ in Visakhapatnam.

The teachers selected under the Mega DSC 2025 recruitment process will attend the ‘Atma Gaurava Garjana’ rally at RK Beach in Visakhapatnam on Sunday. | Photo credit: KR Deepak

Thousands of teachers selected through the 2025 Mega District Selection Committee (DSC) recruitment process staged a rally in the city on Sunday, protesting allegations of widespread irregularities in the conduct of the recruitment process by the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP). They demanded an end to the alleged disinformation campaign against the recruitment process.

Organized by Mega DSC Atma Gaurava Porata Samithi (MAPS), the ‘Atma Gaurava Garjana’ (Self-Respect Greek) rally started at Victory at Sea and proceeded for about 1.5 km along the beach towards RK Beach. The participants carried placards and raised slogans in support of the selected teachers and against the allegations regarding the recruitment process.

As part of the protest, the participants wrote the accusations on pieces of paper, put them in a box and submerged it in the sea. Organizers said the gesture was meant to put an end to what they described as false accusations and communicate their protest peacefully.

According to the organizers, more than 3,500 participants from 53 assembly constituencies in the erstwhile districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam and East Godavari participated in the rally.

B. Venkatapathi Raju, former state secretary of the Andhra Pradesh Teachers Federation (APTF), said that nearly 90% of the candidates selected through DSC participated in the programme. Those who were sick or on vacation could not participate, he said.

The rally followed similar protests at Konda Reddy Fort in Kurnool and Vijayawada, he said. The Visakhapatnam rally was meant to be a final symbolic protest against what the organizers called false allegations, he added.

A director from Vizianagaram district, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Mega DSC recruitment process was conducted “very systematically and transparently”. He claimed that the opposition had been spreading misinformation about the recruitment for the past nine months.

He also criticized the previous government, claiming that it did not issue recruitment notifications during its five-year tenure.

Several of the selected teachers said they had been preparing for the competitive exams for years and that the allegations that they had paid money for the appointments had caused anxiety for them and their families.

Shahnaz, a physical education teacher at a Zilla Parishad school in Anakapalli district, denied the question paper leak allegations. She said the exam was conducted in computer mode with candidates sitting separately.

Nagamani, who was selected under the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category and now works in Salur mandal, said most of those selected through Mega DSC came from “lower middle class families” and did not have the funds to pay for the jobs.

Published – 30 Aug 2026 20:24 IST