VISAKHAPATNAM: Vizag Ukku agitation against the Centre’s decision to privatise Vizag Steel Plant has been getting widespread support from various trade unions and political parties across the country. Speaking to TNIE, Visakha Ukku Parirakshana Porata Committee chairman D Adinarayana on Friday said they received support from Delhi farmers’ association convener Rakesh Tikait.
More than 15,000 workers will participate in the Karmika Garjana to be held at Trishna Grounds in Steel Township on Saturday. National leaders of various trade unions will address the rally. A 15-member delegation of the VUPPC will visit New Delhi on March 22 and meet the floor leaders of various parties, seeking their support for the steel plant agitation and urging them to put pressure on the Centre to reverse its decision to privatise the Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL).
Meanwhile, Delhi farmers association leaders said they will extend support to the agitation against privatisation of RINL and other PSUs. Adinarayana said 40 farmer association leaders under the banner of Delhi Kisan Morcha will participate in the rally on March 28.
The All-India Steel Workers Federation, in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urged him to bail out the RINL from the present crisis. “The RINL is the only shore-based steel plant in the country and the only major industry in the State. The plant provides employment to 50,000 families directly and 1 lakh families indirectly. Besides, it is the lifeline of the State,” Adinarayana said.
He said without giving breathing time to RINL after the Covid situation, when the plant is making remarkable performance, it is inappropriate to take the decision. Further expansion of the plant will provide employment to people of the state and 8,000 displaced persons, he said and urged the Prime minister to reconsider the decision.
Adinarayana said some people were advocating that surplus land of RINL can be utilised to overcome the financial crisis. “The surplus land was earmarked for green cover and the remaining land for future expansion. The expansion plans of the plant will be jeopardised if they are used for resource mobilisation. The allotment of captive mines and conversion loans into equity will help the steel plant tide over the present crisis to a large extent,” he opined.
Support pours in
Visakha Ukku Parirakshana Porata Committee chairman D Adinarayana said they received support from Delhi farmers’ association convener Rakesh Tikait. National leaders from various trade unions will address the rally on Saturday. National parties, which are preoccupied with Assembly elections, will take up the steel plant issue in a big way, he claimed.