Demand for R-card holders to get 50 % of jobs in VSP becomes intense
MLA Palla Srinivasa Rao speaking at the media conference in Visakhapatnam on Saturday
Visakhapatnam: Telugu Desam Party (TDP) state president and Gajuwaka MLA Palla Srinivasa Rao demanded that 50 per cent of jobs at Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) be provided to displaced families and R-card holders as many of whom served the organisation as contract employees for decades.
Issuing a stern warning to contractors at a media conference held here on Saturday, the TDP state president said, “The single-window contractor system may streamline operations, but it cannot displace long-serving workers. Retention of locals and senior employees is mandatory.”
Reiterating the alliance’s commitment towards safeguarding Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, he said that the rights of the displaced persons and local workers remain non-negotiable.
The MLA recalled that serious irregularities had once plagued the steel plant and salaries were fraudulently drawn in the names of nearly 2,000 ‘fictitious’ workers through collusion among a section of contractors, officials and union leaders. “These malpractices were exposed only after the biometric system was introduced and the coalition government acted swiftly to weed out the bogus names,” he emphasised.
Reaffirming the coalition government’s support for the plant’s survival and growth, Srinivasa Rao said: “It was the Telugu Desam Party that resisted privatisation in 1998. Even now, we stand together against privatisation. We will not allow the plant to slip into the hands of the private players.”
In order to bring down the financial burden of the organisation, about 1,000 contractors are now being streamlined slowly and steadily. But unfortunately, this is being portrayed as a step towards privatisation, mentioned Srinivasa Rao.
The MLA stressed that displaced persons, whether skilled, semi-skilled, or unskilled, must be reinstated under the single-window framework. “The steel plant is not merely an industrial unit, it is the economic lifeline of the people of Visakhapatnam,” he underlined.
Alliance corporators and leaders of VSP workers unions were present.