Employees of Dredging Corporation India (DCI) have decided to scale up the agitation against the gaovernment’s move to privatise the mini navaratna company.
Addressing the media here on Friday, employees said dilution of government stake in the DCI by 51 % will adversely affect interests of ports in the country.
N.S Neelakantha Rao, general secretary of the DCI Officers' Association, and N. Narasinga Rao, general secretary of the Non-executive Employees' Union, said the present stake of the government in the PSU was 73.47 % and it would be reduced to 22.47 %, if the government went ahead with the move.
The dredging major, the only one in the PSU sector, was set-up in 1976 and has been earning profits since its operation. “In 2014-15 the DCI earned a net profit of about ₹ 150 crore and in the next year it earned ₹ 80 crore. Profits dipped to ₹ 7 crore last year, due to unhealthy practices of private players. Since we are a profiting making PSU with over 1500 employees, the government should protect us from private parties and see that we remain as a PSU,” said Mr. Neelakantha Rao.
Moreover, DCI had been playing a key role in development of major and minor ports of the country and catering to the livelihood of over 10,000 people indirectly through the ancillary and in-formal sector, said Mr. Narasinga Rao.
“DCI is holding its own even after liberalisation and introduction of competition into the market. It makes no sense to privatise such a PSU earning profits since its inception," he added.
The union leaders urged Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu to take up the issue with the Centre and prevent the move to privatise DCI.
They said the DCI, with a fleet of 17 dredgers, was among the top 10 dredging companies in the world and "the most capable and reliable one in the country." Further, they said, the State government had given 200 acres to the DCI at Antarvedi in East Godavari for setting up a dredging research institute and a dry dock for dredger repairs. That project would also be jeopardised by privatisation, they added.
The employees were also critical of the value set for the company. “It is learnt that the price has been set for ₹ 1400 crore, whereas the cost of the three new dredgers purchased recently alone exceeds ₹1800 crores. How was the price arrived at, is the big question. To benefit some private buyers the price is being under-valued, the union members charged.
To strengthen the DCI and make it more effective, the dues from ports (₹300 crore) and on account of Sethusamudram project (₹ 167 crore) should be immediately released. There should be a level playing field between the DCI and private dredging companies, they demanded. They pleaded with the Union government to give up the move.
