In June 2022, hundreds of candidates who had cleared the Andhra Pradesh District Selection Committee (DSC) exam nearly a quarter century ago were filled with hope as Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy signed a file on their appointments that had been hanging fire since 1998. The wait was long but many felt it was still worth it as they would be landing government teacher jobs, which are coveted.
But when the orders for appointment were finally issued on March 15, 2023, the enthusiasm of many, who had waited 25 years, came crashing down as it became known that reservation norms would not be followed in appointments. The GO said 4534 candidates who had cleared the 1998 exam would be given jobs as Secondary Grade Teachers (SGTs) on contract basis with Minimum Time Scale (MTS). The order is on humanitarian grounds and shall not be taken as a precedent, the government said.
On April 12, after learning that not all qualified applicants are being offered jobs and reservation norms are not being adhered to, two candidates scaled a cellphone tower in Mangalagiri, a town in the Guntur district. Chief Minister YS Jagan had earlier stated that the government would offer jobs to each of the 6842 candidates but later brought down the offer to 5,887 people.
The March 15 order however pertains to only 4534 posts across districts and the new list based on ranks obtained through written test and interview shows the beneficiaries are mostly people from Other Castes, who are privileged.
The government decision to appoint people based solely on merit has angered many who think it is unfair to people from BC, SC, and ST communities as well as women and people with disabilities.
G Ramana, 46-year-old candidate who belongs to the Backward Class (A) community, is terribly upset. “If only upper castes are getting jobs, the government should stop calling it an appointment on humanitarian grounds,” said Ramana, who had a job aided by the Union government. Ramana said he left the job because his name figured in the first list and was hoping to be appointed. “The candidates fought for the jobs legally and the Supreme Court had directed the state to initiate appointments,” he said.
Andra Malyadri, state secretary for the Kula Vivaksha Porata Sangam (KVPS) in Andhra Pradesh alleged that positions are being filled without following the rule of reservation and it is unfair. "When we approached Education Minister Botsa Satyanarayana with the issue he responded arrogantly,” said Malayadri, who feels numerous protests and struggles for the past 25 years have been wasted.
“The cut off is highest for OC’s so according to government order they are preferred for the jobs. We all have fought for this together and the problem would not have arised if the government fulfilled its promise to appoint till the last rank,” said Mary Suhasini, a 55-year-old candidate who had qualified the DSC-1998 exam.
A state-level conference is being planned on April 24 to demand that all qualified teachers are appointed and constitutionally mandated rules of reservation are followed, said Malayadri.
Elaborating the reasons behind the decision, S Suresh Kumar, Commissioner of School Education department said, "It is not a regular employment and the appointments are on contract basis. This is a special case where recruitment is being made on humanitarian grounds. In case of carried forward posts, there is no question of rule of reservation. It is technically not possible to go back to the records of 25 years to see the roster system and appoint people."
The recent GO stated that only 3620 vacancies are available for appointment of DSC-1998 candidates on MTS. AThe rest (914) will work in the other educational institutions belonging to different departments of the Government of Andhra Pradesh till vacancies arise.
The appointed candidates with B.Ed qualification have to undergo a six months Bridge Course in Elementary Education, recognised by the National Council for Teacher Education (NTCE), within two years from the date of appointment.
The minimum qualifying marks for DSC-1998 were fixed as 50 for Other Castes (OC), 45 for Backward Castes (BC) and 40 for SC/ST. The candidates' scores in the written test (85) and interview (15) were used to compile the selection list.
However, a new GO issued on May 18, 1998, reduced the minimum qualifying marks in the written examination for interview to 45, 40, and 35 respectively for OC, BC, and SC/ST candidates. This was due to the insufficient number of qualified candidates for the posts.
Several candidates who secured marks as per the first order were not given preference as the final list was prepared according to the revised cut off marks (including interview marks).
Demands were made to allot them jobs whenever new governments assumed power in the state. Due to inordinate delay and uncertainty regarding appointments several candidates chose to work in private schools with comparatively less salary than their government counterparts.
During his padayatra, before the 2019 assembly elections, Jagan promised the candidates that if elected, he would appoint everyone till the last qualified rank. He kickstarted the process by asking candidates in the qualifying list to intimate the department regarding their willingness to work as the majority of them were nearing retirement age.