Visakhapatnam: State govt urged to join hands with trade unions

Visakhapatnam: Marking the 100-day-long relay hunger strike, members and activists of the Visakha Ukku Parirakshana Porata Committee (VUPPC) held a protest by holding a 100-ft-long banner that read 'RINL is not for sale' at Kurmannapalem junction here on Saturday.

Expressing dissatisfaction over the Union government's prolonged silence over their agitation, committee chairmen Ch Narasinga Rao, Mantri Rajasekhar and D Adinarayana said the 100-day-long relay hunger strike to save the plant from the private management goes unheeded. "However, it is a 'good sign' that the State government passed a unanimous resolution in the State Assembly against privatisation of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) as promised," they added.

The committee representatives demanded that the State government should join hands with the trade unions and political parties fighting for the cause to exert pressure on the Union government and take the Ukku movement forward. They pointed out that people in five States rejected the BJP in the last elections as they are against its policies.

They demanded that the Central government should change its stance and withdraw the decision of privatising Visakhapatnam Steel Plant and hoped that their collective movement will lead to fruition. VUPPC convener J Ayodhya Ram and co-convener G Venkata Rao alleged that the Central government failed to curb the spread of Covid-19.