Mega DSC-selected teachers stage ‘Atma Gaurava Garjana’ in Visakhapatnam

Teachers selected under the Mega DSC 2025 recruitment process take part in the ‘Atma Gaurava Garjana’ rally at RK Beach in Visakhapatnam on Sunday. | Photo Credit: K.R. Deepak Thousands of teachers selected through the 2025 Mega District Selection Committee (DSC) recruitment process staged a rally in the city on Sunday, protesting against allegations of large-scale irregularities in the conduct of the recruitment process made by the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP). They demanded that the alleged misinformation campaign against the recruitment process be stopped.Organised by the Mega DSC Atma Gaurava Porata Samithi (MAPS), the ‘Atma Gaurava Garjana’ (Roar of Self-Respect) rally began 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 surrounding the recruitment process.As part of the protest, participants wrote the allegations on pieces of paper, placed them in a box and immersed it in the sea. The organisers said the gesture was intended to put a full stop to what they described as false allegations and to convey their protest peacefully.According to the organisers, more than 3,500 participants from 53 Assembly constituencies in the erstwhile Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam and East Godavari districts took part in the rally.B. Venkatapathi Raju, former State secretary of the Andhra Pradesh Teachers Federation (APTF), said nearly 90% of the candidates selected through the DSC had attended the programme. Those who were unwell or on leave could not participate, he said.The rally followed similar protests at Konda Reddy Fort in Kurnool and in Vijayawada, he said. The Visakhapatnam rally was intended to be the final symbolic protest against what the organisers described as false allegations, he added.A headmaster from Vizianagaram district, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Mega DSC recruitment process had been conducted “in a very systematic and transparent manner”. He alleged that the Opposition had been spreading misinformation about the recruitment process for the past nine months.He also criticised the previous government, alleging that it had not issued a recruitment notification during its five-year tenure.Several selected teachers said they had spent years preparing for competitive examinations and that allegations that they had paid money for appointments had caused distress to them and their families.Shahnaz, a physical education teacher at a Zilla Parishad school in Anakapalli district, rejected allegations of a question-paper leak. She said the examination was conducted in computer-based mode, with candidates seated separately.Nagamani, who was selected under the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) category and is now working in Salur mandal, said most of those selected through the Mega DSC came from “lower-middle-class families” and did not have the financial means to pay for jobs. Published - August 30, 2026 08:24 pm IST