CITU State president Ch. Narsinga Rao has said that Visakhapatnam will become a launchpad for a movement against the disinvestment policy of the BJP-led NDA government.
Speaking at a function to mark the release of a book named ‘Save public sector save India’ brought out by Visakha Public Sector Coordination Committee here on Sunday, he said the working class and the trade unions of Visakhapatnam were responsible for preventing the privatisation of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited, Bharat Heavy Plate and Vessels (which subsequently became part of Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd) and DCIL by taking up struggles.
Mr. Rao said due to good industrial base, he was sure Visakhapatnam would take a prominent role in taking up cudgels against the disinvestment of public sector units. He cited the instances of Caltex Oil Refining India Ltd and Scindia Steam Navigation Co. Ltd which were set up in the private sector in the city and subsequently nationalised to become HPCL Visakh Refinery and Hindustan Shipyard Ltd.
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He said due to struggles taken up by CITU, Union Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari had to announce the revocation of the decision on strategic sale of DCIL. He pointed out that CITU was successful in preventing the visit of L&T team to BHPV when the then government was planning to sell it.