VSP protest enters 250 days

Ever since the Central government announced its plans of privatising the Visakhapatnam Steel plant, the workers of the plant have been participating in protests, and with today, their protests have entered 250 days. To mark their protests, the agitators, including the protection committee representatives and the trade union leaders have taken up a 25-hour long hunger strike.

Nearly 250 people gathered at the plant’s Kummanapalem gate at 8 in the morning to participate in the strike. The protest is aimed at communicating the employees’ sentiments to the union government, that they do not want the plant to be privatised. The state government and all other political parties in the state have opposed the Central government’s decision to privatise the plant.

The state government wrote a letter expressing the same, to the Centre, and even passed a resolution opposing the move, in the state’s Assembly. Despite all of this, the Centre hasn’t responded positively to the agitation yet, and the plant protection committee has stated that the agitation for the plant will continue until the Centre withdraws its privatisation plans.