VUPPC opposes VRS scheme

Visakhapatnam: The Visakha Ukku Parirakshana Porata Committee (VUPPC) representatives opine that the VRS scheme announcement was a part of the BJP government’s decision to sell the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP).

They demand the Union government to withdraw the voluntary retirement scheme with immediate effect. On the other hand, the VUPPCappealed to the employees not to opt for the scheme.

Opposing the scheme, a meeting was held at Ukkunagaram here on Saturday under the chairmanship of CITU honorary president J Ayodhya Ramu.

Expressing their opinion, the committee members pointed out that the salaries of the workers have not been paid for the past four months and the management is of the opinion that the employees could come forward voluntarily to choose the VRS.

They wondered from where the government will get funds for the VRS as there is no money to pay salaries to the employees. They reiterated that the VRS announcement is nothing but an insensitive step at a time when around 7,000 jobs are vacant in the plant.

The committee members mentioned that SAIL has 2,500 employees for one million tonne production, while the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant has only 1,500 employees for the same production output.

The Visakha Ukku Parirakshana Porata Committee demanded immediate withdrawal of the VRS scheme as the VUPPC strongly opposed it. Chairman of VUPPC D Adinarayana and other representatives KSN Rao, U Ramaswamy, YT Das and V Prasad were present.