Andhra Pradesh Minister Audimulapu Suresh’s remark claiming Google can be more resourceful than teachers has triggered a row in the state, drawing criticism from opposition parties and teachers; associations. Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development Audimulapu Suresh, who previously held the Education portfolio, made the statement at a Teachers’ Day event on September 5 in Ongole. “All the information [students need] is available on Byju's tabs. Satirically, we can say that we do not need gurus (teachers) when there is Google. Even if teachers do not know something, they can look it up on Google. Such technology exists today. Subject teachers must think about whether they are prepared for this.”
Opposition parties in the state including Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), as well as teachers’ associations, have condemned the Minister’s remarks. TDP chief and former Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu reacted to the comment at a public meeting on September 5 and said, "A minister said that Google is better than gurus. These idiots are unaware that Google is just a search engine… A guru is a source of wisdom, whereas Google only provides information. He said that the Minister’s remark was an insult to teachers.
A day later, on Wednesday, the BJP protested against Audimulapu Suresh in Tirupati, alleging that he had humiliated the teachers' community. Meanwhile, teachers' associations in the state have demanded that the Minister retract his comments and apologise.
The Minister responded to the backlash on Thursday and said that his remarks were being distorted by the media and opposition parties. "I never said that Google is better than gurus. My parents are teachers as well. I only meant to say that teachers should get ready to work in the current environment of technological advancement,” Suresh said. He claimed that certain media outlets aligned with the TDP were distorting his remarks to their advantage.