The lopsided policies of the government are responsible for the losses being suffered by Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL) and any attempt to close or privatise it would be opposed tooth and nail, speakers at a roundtable on ‘Save Hindustan Shipyard’ have said.
The meeting was organised by the People for India here on Wednesday.
Retired IAS officer and social activist E. A. S. Sarma said that the Centre had taken over HSL in 1952 because of mismanagement by private ownership. It was taken over by the Defence Ministry a few years ago.
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“Now, the closure plans are aimed at helping the private sector,” he alleged.
He said that the Defence Ministry had in its report for the financial year 2013-14 noted that HSL was “strategically located.”
When that was the case, any plan to disinvest or close the plant should first take that point into consideration.
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Mr. Sarma said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was throwing a red carpet to big businessmen who were involved in money laundering cases. He said that the government was planning to handover HSL to private entities, and called for a united opposition to any such decision.
Praja Spandana president C.S. Rao said that there was a conspiracy to strengthen the shipyard at Garden Reach at the cost of HSL.
“The onus of protecting the interests of HSL is on the shoulders of MP s from north Andhra, particularly Visakhapatnam MP,” he said.
Director-General of Prema Hospital S.V. Adinarayana Rao said that instead of encouraging HSL, orders were being placed with shipyards in South Korea and Malaysia. Describing HSL workers as the best, he said there was no point in blaming the workers without giving them any work. Former Vice-Chancellor of Andhra University K.V. Ramana presided.
Professor M. Prasada Rao of the Economics Department of Andhra University spoke.
A retired employee of HSL Satyanarayana attributed the losses suffered by shipyards all over the world in the past to procurement of parts for building ships from different parts of the world. Availability of almost all parts locally would make it easier to execute orders on time, he said.