The Visakha Ukku Porata Committee (VUPPC) representatives boycotted the 40 th Formation Day celebrations of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), the corporate entity of VSP, on Friday.
The event was organised officially by the VSP management.
The employees registered their protest against the privatisation of VSP by holding a candle light protest at ‘Smrityanjali Park’, even as the relay fast being organised on the banner of VUPPC continued for the 372 nd day.
The VSP workers have been in distress since the Modi government has decided to go for a ‘strategic sale’ of the steel plant.
Struggle behind VSP establishment
The establishment of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant was preceded by a saga of sacrifices by the people of Visakhapatnam and other parts of Andhra and Telangana regions, and 32 persons laying down their lives in the struggle. The slogan ‘Visakha Ukku – Andhrula Hakku’ gained momentum as the then Congress government had rejected the demand to establish the steel plant in Visakhapatnam, as it wanted to set it up in Tamil Nadu or Karnataka.
On July 5, 1966, the Legislative Assembly of Andhra Pradesh passed a unanimous resolution seeking the establishment of the steel plant in Visakhapatnam. Prior to that Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Sastry had announced in Hyderabad that the fifth national steel plant would be established in Visakhapatnam. After his death, the Congress government showed no interest in the location of the plant in Visakhapatnam. In 1971, before the general elections, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi inaugurated a pylon.
“However, the Indira Gandhi government later never took any interest in the construction of the plant. The steel plant went into commercial production in March 1991, with Prime Minister V.P. Singh declaring open the Blast Furnace-1. The plant, however, incurred a loss of ₹554 crore at the end of the first year, as the Central Government had failed to sanction funds during the construction phase and advised the management to borrow loans,” recalls Ch. Narasinga Rao, CPI(M) State secretariat member, who had participated in the struggle for establishment of the plant, told The Hindu.
“VSP was initially placed under the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL). During the 1980s, decisions pertaining to its construction used to be delayed by the SAIL Board. Bhattam Sriram Murthy, the MP from Visakhapatnam who was also a member of the Steel Consultative Committee, insisted that the capital expenditure for VSP had to be borne by the Centre. As funds were borrowed from external sources and the construction was delayed, debts mounted. A separate entity RINL was formed and VSP was brought under its purview to reduce delays in decision-making,” he said.
“VSP was initially placed under the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL). During the 1980s, decisions pertaining to its construction used to be delayed by the SAIL Board. Bhattam Sriram Murthy, the MP from Visakhapatnam who was also a member of the Steel Consultative Committee, insisted that the capital expenditure for VSP had to be borne by the Centre. As funds were borrowed from external sources and the construction was delayed, debts mounted. A separate entity RINL was formed and VSP was brought under its purview to reduce delays in decision-making,” he said.
