The unity among trade unions, people’s organisations, youth, women and intellectuals and the support being extended by all political parties, will save Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) from the privatisation plan of the Centre, said Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) Pendurthy zone president Sankar Rao.
Addressing the participants on the 75th day of the relay hunger strike organised at the Gandhi statue here on Tuesday, the CITU leader alleged that a lot of false propaganda was being done on the VSP, which was being countered by the workforce. He said that despite non-allocation of captive mines, the VSP was now getting profits.
Allocation of captive mines would help it in getting much higher profits, he added. Mr. Sankar Rao alleged that the Centre was deliberately not allocating captive mines with the intention of privatising the plant. He alleged that the Centre was planning to hand over the VSP to Adanis and Ambanis. The VSP, which has 32,000 employees, was producing 7.3 million tonnes of steel. On the other hand, the South Korean steel company POSCO was producing 40 million tonnes, employing a mere 4,000 persons. Handing over of the VSP to corporate groups would result in employees losing their jobs and future generations would lose their employment potential, he said.
CITU Pendurthy zone leaders Babu Rao, Ramu Naidu, Bangaru Naidu, D. Krishna and Srinu were among those who participated in the protest.
