Whenever results of any examination are announced, every newspaper and television channel in the Telugu states are flooded with advertisements from Narayana and Chaitanya group of educational institutions, claiming credit for the top ranks.
Both these groups hoodwink gullible parents of the students saying that they had produced top ranks in the entire country – No. 1 to 100.
Attracted by these advertisements, parents of other students vie with one another to admit their children in these institutions by paying lakhs of rupees of fees.
More often than not, the parents do not verify the claims made by Narayana or Chaitanya. What is surprising is that the same top rankers appear in the advertisements of both the institutions. They claim credit even for the top rankers from other states, with a confidence that nobody would have time to verify these claims.
Now, they cannot make such tall claims any more at least in Andhra Pradesh. The Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government has come out with a decision to ban advertisements by the educational institutions announcing ranks in Class X examination.
The government issued instructions to all the educational institutions directing that they should not make any kind of campaign or issue advertisements announcing ranks for the students in Class 10 examination. The decision was taken as per the representations given by the parents.
The Jagan government also warned of stringent action against such institutions who defy these orders as per the law.
If any institution announces ranks or gives advertisements in the newspapers and TV channels, those responsible for the advertisements in the college managements would be sentenced to imprisonment for a minimum of three years to a maximum of seven years, besides penalty of Rs 1 lakh.
It remains to be seen how Narayana and Chaitanya would react to these orders.
