Wrong campaign started against steelworks: CITU

The relay hunger strike organized by the various trade unions and popular organizations against the centre’s decision to privatize the Visakhapatnam steelworks (VSP) continued on Sunday here on the 80th day at the Gandhi statue near the GVMC.

In an address to the participants, the General Secretary of the Pedagantyada Zone of the Center of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), K. Appala Raju, said that the victims of the displaced who sacrificed their land for the creation of the VSP would not be wasted. He recalled that people from 64 villages had given their land in the hope that they and their family members would find employment in the VSP. About 50% of the displaced are unemployed, he said.

Mr. Appala Raju alleged that a false campaign was launched against the VSP and that the staff repulsed it. He said the VSP is currently profitable and is supplying various states with oxygen, including Maharashtra. He wondered why the POSCO Steel Company in Maharashtra had failed to provide the patients in that state with the oxygen they needed. This shows that while public sector steel mills like VSP meet people’s needs, private mills like POSCO are only interested in making a profit, he claimed.

Mr. Appala Raju said that while the VSP has not been allocated its own mines from the center, it is still making some profits. It would have made huge profits if it had been allocated trapped mines, he added. CITU leaders Ch. Ramudu, G. Simhachalam and Anand were among the participants.

Meanwhile, the hunger strike organized by the Visakha Ukku Parirakshana Porata Committee continued in Kurmannapalem in the city’s industrial area on Sunday the 129th day.

Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS) general secretary G. Ganapathi Reddy called for the center to overturn its decision on the steel mill. Union President Dommeti Appa Rao called for VSP management to support the relatives of workers who died of COVID-19.

The Chairman of the Porata Committee, D. Adinarayana, spoke.

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