Demand to save VSP from going private gets louder

Visakhapatnam: Opposing the Central and State government’s stance on the privatisation of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP), trade unions and left parties staged protests in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday.

Speaking on the occasion, trade union leaders and industry workers demanded merger of Visakha Steel Plant with SAIL.

As part of the protest, employees and leaders organised ‘rasta roko’ at the national highway and blocked vehicles at Kurmannapalem junction and RTC Complex junction.

The workers expressed anger over the Centre for not taking any decision even after two months have passed after the Union Steel Minister promised to merge the steel plant with SAIL.

The leaders of all-party public labour unions demanded that the Central government should immediately stop the privatisation of the VSP.

Also, a rally was organised from GVMC Gandhi Statue to RTC complex by the JAC. The JAC leaders demanded Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and Deputy Chief Minister K Pawan Kalyan to mount pressure on the Centre to save the plant.

Chandrababu Naidu, Pawan Kalyan and Daggubati Puradeswari promised people during the election campaign that the VSP would continue as a PSU, the protesters recalled.

Thousands of people depend on the steel plant for their livelihood, and there is a need to protect the VSP from getting privatised, the leaders stressed, demanding justice for the displaced families.