The recognised union of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited – CITU-affiliated Steel Plant Employees’ Union on Sunday threatened to launch an agitation over Centre’s bid to offload 10% equity in the company and criticised the recent statement of Chairman-cum-Managing Director P. Madhusudan justifying the move.
Taking strong exception to Mr. Madhusudan’s remarks, SPEU president J. Ayodhyaram told reporters that the BJP-led NDA government was conspiring to go ahead with disinvestment in a haste just to achieve the target set for next financial year (₹80,000 crore) by selling equity in public sector units.
Mr. Ayodhyaram along with Steel Workers’ Federation of India vice-president N. Rama Rao and Public Sector Coordination Committee convener S. Jyoteeswara Rao said they along with others would go to the public to expose the evil designs of the Centre to weaken public sectors and subsequently hand them over to private hands.
Mr. Ayodhyaram said Visakhapatnam Steel Plant was established after an agitation which had claimed the lives of 32 persons. He said from foundation to commissioning, 200 workers died in accidents. The total government holding in the company was ₹4,890 crore out of which the government wanted to sell 10% just for ₹489 notwithstanding the fact that the company had a land bank of 20,000 acres and assets worth ₹2 lakh crore.
Plea to CM
Stating that Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had been claiming that AP had emerged as a favourite destination for investors, Mr. Ayodhyaram urged him to intervene and impress upon the Centre to drop the disinvestment plan. He said RINL had already paid taxes and dividends to the tune of ₹36,000 crore since its inception.
He said if the Centre was firm on selling 10% of its equity, it was better to increase it to 70% and meet the amount required from ₹3,500 crore the employees had saved in provident fund and thrift. He said families belonging to direct and indirect employees numbering five lakh were dependent on the continuation of RINL in the public sector.
