Allaka Kedareswara Rao’s goal of becoming a government teacher was finally going to come true. Rao, who is currently 57 years old, had been waiting for this job for the last 20 years of his life. He proofed that dreams can be achieved at any age.
Rao, an Andhra Pradesh resident from Seedhi Village, passed the District Selection Committee (DSC) exam in 1998. The applicants who passed the DSC in 1998, however, did not receive allotments because of legal complications and government delays. Since then, some of them have been engaged in legal conflict. Now, the State government has finally cleared the 1998 DSC file. Rao wasn’t even aware of this; it was the villagers of Seedhi who informed him. They showed him the Order and his name on it.
Villagers celebrated his success by buying him a cake and honoured him. This is not just a victory for Rao, but for thousands of candidates who cleared the exam in 1998.
About Allaka Kedareswara Rao
Rao lost his father at a young age and his mother died a few years ago. He has a younger sister who is married. He says he is single as he vowed to marry only after getting a job.
He finished his Bachelor of Education (BEd) from Annamalai University in 1992, and then started attempting the DSC exams. This is the qualifying exam to recruit government teachers in Andhra Pradesh.
He attempted the DSC exam in ‘92, ‘94, and ‘96. There is a written exam and an interview after that. In ‘92 and ‘94, he cleared the written exam but was unable to clear the interview. In ‘96, he finally cleared the interview also. He was hopeful of securing a job, but the file was held up. He then started trying for other jobs and even moved to Hyderabad for a few years with his mother. Unable to secure a job that matched his qualifications, Rao took up a job in a garment store in Hyderabad. However, he was mentally affected by the fact that he did not get a teacher’s job.
The stress on his mind forced him to come back to his village about eight years ago. His mother’s death only added to his woes. He was depressed and began cycling from village to village to sell clothes for a living. Some days, there would be no sales. On such days, he did not even have a single meal. He says no one was there to help him.
“My aim in life has been to become a teacher. I studied and cleared the exam. Due to legal issues, it has taken so many years for me to realise my dream. I did not even marry as I couldn’t provide for a family,” says Rao.
A belated victory
He says that when Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy was on his Padayatra, he shared his problems and asked him to clear this file. CM promised to clear the 1998 DSC file, which he has done. Rao is very grateful to him.
Villagers say that Rao has lived in abject poverty all these years with steely determination that if he works, he will work as a teacher. His inability to get the job of his dream, all because of a legal issue, cost him
24 years of his life.
He wishes to teach Classes 6-10 and is willing to teach any subject given to him. A job that should have been his when he was 33, will come his way only now.
This case, which was eventually resolved 24 years too late, benefits not just Rao but also more than 4,000 other members of the 1998 group who also experienced hardship. Some of the eligible individuals engaged in protracted legal conflict. They approached the High Court and the Andhra Administrative Tribunal, and they received favourable decisions. It was useless, though, until the State administration decided to close the case 24 years later. The majority of these teacher evaluations are administered by the state governments, who must prevent further delays.
