Yoga job scandal victims demand justice

Vizianagaram : Severalvictims of the Yoga job scandal staged a dharna at two police stations on Saturday, demanding justice from the government. The Buddha Yoga Health Foundation, a non-profit organisation led by Sayad Vali, Lakshmi Narayana Reddy, and Prasada Reddy, conducts free yoga classes for the public.

In 2022 and 2023, the foundation received government approval to conduct free yoga classes in 373 selected government schools across Andhra Pradesh.

To facilitate this, the foundation recruited some trained youth as instructors, appointing them in the selected schools with a salary of Rs 15,000-18,000 per month for a few months.

However, middlemen infiltrated the programme, misleading candidates into believing that the program would continue in subsequent years and that they would be appointed as outsourced staff, with salaries guaranteed by the government.

The middlemen assured candidates that they could verify this information with current staff who were already receiving their salaries on time.

Trusting this information, youth with graduate and postgraduate qualifications approached the middlemen, paying around Rs 3-5 lakhs for the yoga teacher positions.

The Buddha Foundation later conducted a short-term yoga training program in Guntur for these applicants, providing them with certificates. Approximately 2,000 candidates paid the fees and have been waiting for their postings.

The trio behind the scam appointed district-wise agents to target candidates and collect money for these fake jobs. After three years of waiting for job placements, the frustrated candidates filed a case in May 2024.

On Saturday, the police escorted them to the two police stations from Guntur.

The victims learned that the fraudsters were arriving in Vizianagaram from Guntur, prompting around 200 youth from Vizianagaram district to join the protest.

Circle Inspector T Srinivasa Rao stated that they would begin receiving complaints from the victims and initiate an investigation.