Hyderabad: Prominent Telugu film industry stars have united to condemn Telangana Minister Konda Surekha's recent remarks that linked Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader KT Rama Rao to the divorce of actors Naga Chaitanya and Samantha Ruth Prabhu. The comments have sparked a widespread backlash, with several celebrities voicing their strong disapproval.

Veteran actor Chiranjeevi expressed his dismay on social media, stating that he was "extremely pained" by the "disgraceful remarks" made by the minister. “It is a shame that celebrities and members of the film fraternity become soft targets as they provide instant reach and attention. We as the film industry stand united in opposing such vicious verbal assaults on our members,” he said. He urged politicians to refrain from dragging unconnected people and more so women into political disputes and to maintain a higher standard of public discourse.

Actor NT Rama Rao Junior (Jr NTR), known for his role in RRR, also condemned the remarks, terming them a "new low" and urging politicians to maintain dignity and respect for others’ privacy. “Public figures, especially those in responsible positions, must maintain decorum. We will not sit quietly while others make baseless allegations against us. We must ensure our society does not normalize such reckless behavior in democratic India,” Jr NTR said.

Another leading actor, Allu Arjun, took to social media to register his objection, using the hashtag "#FilmIndustryWillNotTolerate." He criticised the minister’s comments as deeply disrespectful, saying, “Such behavior goes against the values of our Telugu culture. Irresponsible actions like these should not be accepted as normal. I urge all parties involved to act responsibly and respect individual privacy, especially that of women.”

Actor Nani echoed similar sentiments, calling the remarks “disgusting” and criticized politicians for making irresponsible comments. He emphasised that the issue is not limited to the film industry but reflects a general disregard for responsibility among those in positions of power.

Minister Surekha’s remarks came while she was accusing BRS leader KT Rama Rao of allegedly tapping the phones of actresses and using their private information to blackmail them. “It is because of KT Rama Rao that Samantha’s divorce happened. He used to tap the phones of the actresses and then find their weaknesses to blackmail them... He used to make them drug addicts and then do this... Everyone knows this, Samantha, Naga Chaitanya, his family, everybody is aware that such a thing happened,” the minister said.

Veteran actor Nagarjuna Akkineni, Naga Chaitanya’s father, strongly condemned Minister Surekha’s comments, urging her to respect others’ privacy and avoid using the lives of movie stars to criticize political opponents. He requested the minister to withdraw her comments immediately.

Naga Chaitanya responded, stating that the divorce decision was a mutual one, taken after much consideration. “There have been various baseless and completely ridiculous gossips on the matter so far. I have remained silent out of respect for my former spouse and family. However, the claim made by Minister Konda Surekha is not only false but also absolutely ridiculous and unacceptable,” he said.

Samantha Ruth Prabhu also responded, saying it takes immense strength for a woman to survive in the film industry, where women are often treated as props. “Konda Surekha Garu, I am proud of what this journey turned me into, please don’t trivialize it. My divorce is a personal matter, and I request you to refrain from speculating about it. Our choice to keep things private doesn’t invite misrepresentation,” she said.

Amid the widespread criticism, Minister Surekha issued a clarification, stating that her remarks were aimed at questioning KT Rama Rao's "belittling of women" and were not intended to hurt Samantha Prabhu’s sentiments. “The way you have grown up with self-power is not only an admiration for me but also an ideal. If you or your fans are offended by my comments, I unconditionally retract them,” she said.

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Claim: sarvashikshaabhiyan.com website is related to the Government of India and offers job opportunities.
Fact: The website is not an authentic one, it is duping the job aspirants of their money.

Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan is a school education scheme in India that aims to improve the quality of education and ensure universal access to school. The scheme not only provides support for the implementation of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 but has also been aligned with the recommendations of National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

It encompasses a comprehensive approach to school education, including initiatives like universal access to schooling, foundational literacy and numeracy, gender equity, inclusive education, quality improvement, teacher training, vocational education, sports and physical education, digital initiatives, and support for children with special needs, effectively combining the previously separate schemes of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA), and Teacher Education (TE) under one umbrella; essentially covering the entire spectrum of schooling from pre-primary to class 12. The Central Government recruits teachers and other staff under this Scheme for various posts across the country.

A website named sarvashikshaabhiyan is in circulation with several job recruitment links posted here. The website claims to offer employment opportunities to aspiring candidates. Job opportunities for primary school teachers, lab technicians, chaprasis, etc. can be seen on the website.

Here is the screenshot of the website home page.

Here is the archive link to the website pages.

Fact Check:

The website makes a False claim. It is not a genuine website and is not related to the Government of India’s Samagra Shiksha Abhiyaan scheme. The home page of the website does not show the Government of India’s logo and is very static in nature.

 

When we clicked on one of the recruitment ads posted on this website, we could see that it mentions that total job vacancies are 98,305, which is a very large number. The qualification needed for teachers is 10th, 12th or above.

When clicked on apply now, the website gathers all the details of the applicant including the phone number and email id, etc. At the end of the process, we can see a QR code for the payment of the application fee which is Rs 950.

 

Even though the UPI ID shown on this screenshot is sarvashiksha123@abcdicici, the user name on the bank states ‘Deepak Kumar’, not the name of any government department or scheme.

We also found that PIB fact check in its post, declared that this website is fake and is not associated with Government of India.

PIB also published a clarification on its website stating – It has come to the notice of the Ministry of Education that in order to dupe innocent applicants several websites have been created with the name similar to the schemes. (like www.sarvashiksha.online, https://samagra.shikshaabhiyan.co.inhttps://shikshaabhiyan.org.in) of this Department.

These websites offer employment opportunities to aspiring candidates and misguide the job aspirants through the layout of the website, content, and presentation in a manner similar to the original website and ask for money from the respondents for the applications. While these websites have come to the notice of the Department of School Education and Literacy, there may be more such other websites/social media accounts promising jobs and demanding money for the recruitment process.

The general public is, hereby, advised to avoid applying for job opportunities on such websites and to ensure that the websites are authorized by visiting the official website of the concerned Department/personal inquiry/telephone call/e-mail to safeguard their own interest. Any person applying on these websites will be doing so at his own risk & cost and shall be responsible for the consequences thereof.’ This clarification was published in March 2022. But the website has resurfaced again and is duping the aspiring candidates in the name of recruitment opportunities.

Hence, the website https://www.sarvashikshaabhiyan.com/ is not an authentic one and is not related to the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyaan of the Government of India. Beware of such websites.

(This story was originally published by telugupost, and republished by english.varthabharati.in as part of the Shakti Collective)