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Steel plant staff to stage hunger strike from today
According to a steel ministry document, the RINL is in serious financial trouble with overall debts mounting to ₹35,000 crore and it is at the risk of being classified as a non-performing asset by banks.
Uncertainty prevails over the fate of public sector steel giant Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), better known as Visakhapatnam steel plant, as the trade unions have called for a three-day protest starting Tuesday demanding that the Centre comes to the rescue of the steel plant by ensuring adequate supply of raw material.
“Starting October 1, there will be indefinite hunger strikes by the steel plant workers seeking clarity from the Centre on further steps to bring the steel plants out from the brink of losses. We shall opposed any move to go ahead with its privatisation plan,” J Ayodhya Ramu, Centre for Indian Trade Unions (CITU) president of Visakhapatnam steel plant, said.
Simultaneously, North Andhra People’s Organisation gave a call for a big rally in Visakhapatnam on October 2, coinciding with the Gandhi Jayanti, with the slogan of “Visakha Ukku-Andhrula Hakku” (Visakha Steel is right of Andhra people).
“We shall convert the agitation of Visakhapatnam steel plant into a people’s agitation, as the steel plant symbolises the self-respect of north Andhra people,” its convenor V V Ramanamurthy said.
According to a steel ministry document, the RINL is in serious financial trouble with overall debts mounting to ₹35,000 crore and it is at the risk of being classified as a non-performing asset by banks.
In January 2021, the cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA) gave its “in-principle” approval for 100% disinvestment of government stake in RINL, along with RINL’s stake in its subsidiaries/joint ventures through strategic disinvestment by way of privatisation.
However, there has been no further movement with regard to the privatisation plan, even as the workers and employees have been on warpath since the decision to privatise the steel plant was announced.
Trade union leaders said for the last three months, the plant has been running at minimal capacity – with only one blast furnace with a production of 2.5 million tonnes per year being in operation, while the other two furnaces are shut down due to lack of raw material – mainly iron ore and coking coal.
“As against 21,000 tonnes of steel produced every day, only 5,000 tonnes of steel is being produced at present. If the government takes steps to supply adequate raw material, we can bounce back,” Ramu said.
What triggered the latest uproar among the trade unions was the way the RINL management denied entry to around 4,000 contract workers into the steel plant on Saturday by denying them gate pass, leading to suspicion that they were being laid off.
A tense situation prevailed as the workers staged a protest at the plant’s entrance, joined by the trade unions. As the situation appeared to be turning violent, the police intervened and made the steel plant management to allow them in.
People in the RINL management, who refused to be named, said that it was part of the downsizing of the staff, in the wake of a proposal mooted by the Centre to merge the Vizag steel plant with the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), another public sector steel giant.
However, trade unions have called for an official statement from the Union minister of steel to clarify any merger plans. “So far, there is no official proposal from the Centre. Even Union minister of state for steel and mines Bhupatiraju Srinivasa Varma said on Sunday that there are certain technical issues in the merge. We won’t believe the reports unless we get the official document,” Ramu said.
Meanwhile, chairman and managing director of Manganese Ore India Limited (MOIL), a PSU under ministry of steel, Ajit Kumar Saxena on Monday took additional charge of CMD of RINL.
His appointment as in-charge of RINL comes in the wake of earlier CMD Atul Bhatt going on personal leave from September 9 till November 30, which is also the date of his superannuation.
