Visakhapatnam: Students to join ‘ukku stir’

Visakhapatnam : As the ukku stir reached 995 days, various student unions have decided to join hands in opposing the strategic sale of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) and do their bit to the ‘udhyamam’. In support of this, ‘Vidyardi Yuvajana Praja Sanghalu’ has called for a bandh on November 8 in Visakhapatnam.

So far, political parties, people’s associations, trade unions along with employees and displaced families of the VSP staged a number of protests, rallies and observed bandh for the past several months to save the VSP from handing over to private players.

Scores of students played an important role in raising the slogan ‘Visakha Ukku Andhrula Hakku’ during the Ukku Udhyamam at the time VSP establishment. Their participation in the stir contributed significantly to the establishment of the prestigious steel plant in the port city. If the students join hands once again to take part in the ongoing ukku stir, Visakha Ukku Parirakshana Porata Committee chairman D Adinarayana said, the pressure would be mounted on the Union government and it will have no other choice than to withdraw the privatisation move. By November 8, the ukku stir will reach 1,000 days. The protesters decided to take the agitation to the next level if the Centre continues to remain silent on the issue.

Earlier, the organisers of the bandh released a poster inviting educational institutions to extend their support to the stir by closing down their schools and colleges on November 8 in Visakhapatnam. Meanwhile, Telugu Nadu Student Federation state president MV Pranav Gopal mentioned that the federation is extending its complete support to the forthcoming bandh and called for a united fight against the privatisation of the VSP.