VSP employees keep their fingers crossed as Union Ministers to visit plant

Visakhapatnam : After the Centre made an announcement of special revival plan package to the tune of Rs.11,440 crore for Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP), two Union Ministers, including Bhupathi Raju Srinivasa Varma and HD Kumaraswamy, are visiting the plant on January 30 (Thursday).

The arrival of the Union Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Steel and Union Steel Minister is triggering a new hope among VSP employees who are yet to receive their pending salaries. Even as part of them have been paid to the employees since last September, the management is yet to clear 250 percent of pending salaries.

Also, the employees of the VSP expect that the Union Ministers would look into the wage revision which has been kept pending since 2017 during their visit to the plant.

Apparently, representatives of Visakha Ukku Parirakshana Porata Committee (VUPPC) are planning to meet the Union Ministers and express their concerns to them. But, with a hefty revival special package announced recently by the Centre, the VSP management is trying its best to convince the VUPPC representatives not to stage any protest or express dissatisfaction over the plant’s progress at the moment. However, the Union Ministers are expected to suggest the management to operate the plant in its full capacity and make every effort to bring it on a profitable track.

Meanwhile, clarity on the list of issues to be brought to the notice of the Central Ministers by the trade unions are likely to arrive in a day or two.