Employees of the Dredging Corporation of India (DCI) have decided to launch a relay hunger strike on November 27 in protest against the Centre’s decision to go ahead with the strategic sale of the company.
DCI Non-Executive Employees’ Union honorary president V.S. Padmanabha Raju, working president P. Venkata Rao, and general secretary N. Narsinga Rao told reporters on Friday that the relay hunger strike camp would be set up at the Sea Horse junction.
Strike notice
The employees had already served a notice to go on strike on or after December 6. Stating that the employees had been spearheading an agitation peacefully to bring pressure on the Centre to shelve the decision on disinvestment, Mr. Padmanabha Raju came down heavily on the constitution of an Inter-Ministerial Group by the NDA Government to oversee the appointment of transaction advisers and legal advisers for executing disinvestment of the DCI.
He said the DCI had been earning profits since inception in 1976.
Working capital
“The company is facing working capital problem due to denial of contracts by major ports on nomination basis and delay in refunding the huge amounts the DCI had put in the Sethusamudram project,” he pointed out.
Mr. Padmanabha Raju said there was no justification to sell away the DCI as it was rated as one among the top 10 dredging companies in the world.
