Steel plant workers in Vizag asked to continue the protests

Despite the Centre maintaining its stance on the privatisation of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP), the Chairman of the Visakha Ukku Parirakshana Porata Committee, D Adinarayana, has asked the steel plant workers to keep the protests going in Vizag. Mr Adinarayana spoke to the workers on Friday, during the hunger strike conducted at Kurmannapalem in the city. 

Mr Adinarayana stated that it was the earlier statewide agitation by the Telugu people that brought the steel plant to Vizag in the first place. He also said that the Centre had tried to privatise VSP several times in the past, including even an Initial Public Offering (IPO). But every time the Centre attempted so, it had been thwarted due to the united protests by the steel plant workers and employees in Vizag. Now, when the fate of VSP rests uneasy, he asked the workers to keep protesting in order to stop the privatisation of the plant.  

The other committee members, B Mahesh and Parandamayya, backed the chairman’s words, saying that the workers shouldn’t get disheartened by the Central Government’s decision.

The news comes as it has been announced that all the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) corporators, and the Mayor of Vizag, will be protesting against the privatisation of the steel plant on Monday, 2 August 2021. The protest will take place at the Mahatma Gandhi statue near the GVMC office. This is not the first time that GVMC has given its stance on the issue. It had passed a resolution against the privatisation of VSP back in April 2021.

Here’s a timeline of events to help you follow all the developments so far in the privatisation of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant.