HYDERABAD: An anguished Telangana couple says a photograph wrongly used in government advertisements has brought them disrepute. Nayakula Nagaraju, 32, and Padma, 26, are upset their photograph was used for the Rythu

and Kanti Velugu programme advertisements released by the state government. What’s objectionable is that apart from not taking their permission, a photograph of the woman and the child was used with another man in the frame to showcase them as a family. The advertisements have gone viral on social media.

“How can some other man stand beside me as my husband,” asked Padma. “People are laughing at us. My in-laws and relatives are unable to come out of their homes in shame,” she said. The family hails from a village in

in

. On the launch of Rythu Bhima (farmers insurance) and Kanti Velugu (eye test programme) of the state government by chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on August 15, the government released full-page advertisements in the media. In some papers, Padma, her husband Nagaraju and their daughter were shown as a family. In other newspaper advertisements, the photograph was morphed to show another man beside her.

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Nayakula Nagaraju with his wife Padma

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Speaking to TOI, Nagaraju said when his family went to Vangapalli near Yadagirigutta three years ago, some people approached them with a promise to provide loans if the family posed for pictures. “To my shock, we noticed our photographs in advertisements, portraying our family in poor light. I was shown as someone who had given up drinking

and leading a happy life,” Nagaraju said. Angry about this, he complained to the sarpanch, but his objections were brushed aside. “We did not know anyone to approach for help,” he said.

Now, they noticed their photograph in newspapers in a different context. “We do not even own land. How does Rythu Bhima even apply to us,” Padma asked about the misuse of their family picture. “The worst thing is they have shown me with another man in a morphed frame. This has left my family aggrieved,” she said. On Sunday, they approached former Congress minister and TPCC working president who pointed to the media how much harm advertisements had caused to the family. “We demand compensation from the government,” Nagaraju said.

Speaking to TOI, information and public relations commissioner Arvind Kumar said, “I&PR department has begun an inquiry. Notices have been slapped on to two agencies. We have sought a reply on how they were authorized to use pictures in the advertisements. Appropriate action will be taken against the agency which used pictures of the couple without authorization.”