AP Education Department, SAAP Reject Mega DSC-2025 Recruitment Fraud Allegations

The Andhra Pradesh School Education Department and the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh (SAAP) have strongly refuted allegations of fraud and irregularities in the Mega DSC-2025 teacher recruitment. Addressing a joint press conference at the State Secretariat in Amaravati, School Education Commissioner A. Tamim Ansariya and SAAP Vice-Chairperson and Managing Director D.S. Bharani clarified that all candidate selections under general and sports quotas were executed in strict accordance with statutory guidelines, merit rosters, and official verification. Rejecting what they called a targeted media and social media campaign, officials said genuine grievances submitted through official channels would be investigated, but anyone entering schools to harass or intimidate newly recruited teachers would face criminal prosecution. A dedicated grievance cell has been set up at Vidya Bhavan to handle formal complaints.

Addressing claims that candidates without mandatory TET qualifications were illegally appointed, Commissioner Ansariya cited official records to refute them. Jampala Usha, a School Assistant in Telugu from Kurnool, cleared TET Paper 2-A three times, scoring 79 and 80 marks in two separate 2012 exams and 76 marks in 2017; since no separate TET existed for language pandits between 2011 and 2017, Paper 2-A clearance was the valid benchmark. Under the sports quota, Miriyala Gayatri Sai Sri scored 97.89 marks in APTET-2024, well above the required 90-mark threshold, while Pragada Kalyani, under the BC-A category, scored 75 marks in the 2018 APTET, meeting the required 50% cutoff. V. Chakrapani Reddy, selected under Ex-Servicemen reservation, scored 84.7 marks in APTET-2024, comfortably clearing the relaxed 60-mark threshold applicable to that category. Officials also noted that TET is mandatory only for Classes I to VIII, and is not legally required for Physical Education Teachers, Physical Directors, Post Graduate Teachers, or Principals.

On the contentious sports quota, SAAP MD Bharani said candidate lists in a 1:5 ratio were published for public review between August 8 and 14, 2025, with no objections raised at the time over disputed judo certificates. While 69 individual writ petitions have since been filed over sports recruitment, the authenticity of judo certificates issued by the A.P. State Judo Association is currently under a separate three-month vigilance inquiry ordered by the High Court under PIL No. 170, and final action will follow the court's ruling. Regarding a husband-wife pair, Nausham Karishma and Shaik Imam Hussain, both secured second place in their respective divisions at a Senior Inter-District Judo Tournament in Vijayawada in November 2014, with the Judo Association confirming candidates may represent either their native district or the district where they study or work. Boxer Peddi Appalaraju, accused of uploading his brother's credentials, was said to have been given administrative provision to correct an upload error, with his participation verified through the 37th National Games in Goa (2023). Athletics candidate Konchada Padmaja's second-place finish at the 2021 AP Senior Inter-District Championship was validated through official Form-2 submissions under G.O. Ms. No. 4, and softball credentials were verified through the Softball Association of India, which SAAP formally recognized in 2026.

On Economically Weaker Section (OC-EWS) quota appointments, officials said selections were based strictly on valid income and asset certificates issued by jurisdictional Tahsildars, not unverified third-party claims. They added that making full candidate documentation transparently available online had opened the door to politically motivated attacks, and reiterated that no genuine candidate would be penalized based on unsubstantiated allegations.