Leaders of various national farmers’ unions will participate in the ‘Save Visakhapatnam Steel Plant’ meeting to be organised at R.K. Beach here on April 18.
The leaders, who are in the forefront of the farmers’ agitation against the new farm laws in New Delhi, will express their solidarity with the striking VSP workers.
Addressing a joint media conference here on Friday, Visakha Ukku Porata Committee chairmen Ch. Narasinga Rao, D. Adinarayana and Mantri Rajasekhar said the meeting would be preceded by a rally from the Park Hotel junction to the venue.
Rakesh Singh Tikait (BKU), Ashok Dhaval and Balkaran Singh (AIKS), B. Venkat (AIWU) and Dharampal Singh (Kisan Morcha), and farmers’ union leaders from the State such as Vadde Sobhanadreeswara Rao, Kesava Rao, D. Subba Rao, Ravula Venkayya and Jamalayya would participate in the meeting.
Farm Acts
The committee leaders said that the three farm Acts brought out by the Union government would spell doom for the farmers as agriculture would go into the hands of the corporate sector. The small and marginal farmers would be denied minimum support price, and there would be no food security in the country, they alleged.
The Centre was trying to suppress the agitation in Delhi by cutting off essential supplies to the agitating farmers, but they remained steadfast on their demand, the leaders said.
“They farmers are an inspiration to the workers all over the country in their fight against the lopsided policies of the Modi government,” the leaders said.
“The Visakhapatnam Steel Plant had come into being after 32 persons sacrificed their lives for the cause. The BJP-led government at the Centre proposes to sell its stake in the plant by labelling it as a loss-making unit, ignoring the ₹44,000 crore it has contributed to the Central and State governments in the form of taxes and dividends over the years,” they said.
The Centre’s investment in the VSP was a mere ₹4,950 crore, the committee leaders said, and added that the State BJP too had no concern for the VSP, which was providing employment to thousands of people, they alleged.
Accusing the Centre of planning to handover the VSP, which was worth ₹3 lakh crore, to corporate groups for ₹1,300 crore, the committee leaders called upon the people to participate in the protest.
