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24 yrs after, MLA gets schoolteacher’s job
Born in a family of agriculturists, the YSRCP leader did his graduation in social sciences in 1989 from Andhra University and completed his degree in education from Annamalai University in distance mode in 1993.
The protracted legal battle and bureaucratic hurdles virtually ruined lives of several aspirants for teacher jobs in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in the past 24 years.
But in case of some other aspirants, the whole fiasco turned out to be a blessing in disguise – like that of 54-year-old Karanam Dharmasri, who chose to enter politics and became a member of state legislative assembly.
Dharmasri, who is representing Chodavaram assembly constituency in Anakapalli district of Andhra Pradesh for the ruling YSR Congress Party, was in a surprise on Monday when he came to know that his name figured in the list of candidates cleared for recruitment as a teacher.
“I received a call from a senior official in the state education department that my name was among the candidates qualified for teacher jobs in 1998, as per the list cleared by the government. After that, I was flooded with calls from several friends who had appeared for the teachers’ recruitment test along with me,” Dharmasri told Hindustan Times.
Born in a family of agriculturists, the YSRCP leader did his graduation in social sciences in 1989 from Andhra University and completed his degree in education from Annamalai University in distance mode in 1993.
“Like many of my friends, I, too, wanted to become a teacher. I cleared the written test for teachers’ recruitment in 1998 for English and Social Studies subjects. In the interview, conducted by then Visakhapatnam collector Narsing Rao, I answered all the questions and was hoping to get a job,” Dharmasri recalled.
However, like many other aspirants, Dharmasri’s name also did not figure in the final list due to a controversy over reduction of cut-off mark for qualification. “The issue was caught in the legal wrangle, as some of the candidates moved the tribunal,” he said.
While many of his friends continue to pursue their ambition of becoming teachers, Dharmasri, somehow, got attracted politics. “I was 30 years old then and inspired by then Congress Legislature Party leader Dr YS Rajasekhar Reddy (YSR), I started taking active part in the Youth Congress activities in Visakhapatnam district,” he said.
In 2003, when YSR undertook a marathon padayatra across the state, Dharmasri was instrumental in making arrangements for him in Visakhapatnam district. “I also led a delegation of the qualified candidates of 1998 recruitment test to give a representation to YSR, who promised to consider the issue once the Congress came to power,” he said.
In 2004 assembly elections, Dharmasri became an MLA from Madugula assembly constituency and since then, grew into a prominent leader of the area. He lost the elections in 2009 on Congress ticket and 2014 on YSRCP ticket with a slender margin, but won as an MLA for the second time in the 2019 elections.
“In the last two decades of my political growth, I completely forgot that I was once an aspirant for teachers’ job. Now, after so many years, when I was told that I was selected as a teacher, it amused me,” he said.
Thanking chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy for clearing the file regarding the recruitment of 1998-batch teachers, Dharmasri said it had rekindled the hopes of many candidates who had suffered a lot in the last 24 years.
“Some of them became labourers, some others hamalis and some others even beggars. Now, they can all lead respectable lives at least at the fag end of their lives,” he said.
The MLA said he, too, would have continued in the teaching profession had he been appointed in 1998 itself, instead of coming into politics. “I would have moved from school to school as a teacher. Now, I am touring village to village, to resolve the people’s issues and ensuring that the government’s programmes reach every beneficiary,” he added.
