A bullet injury then, privatisation now hurt this Septuagenarian

Mornings were busy for Bayapalli Shankar Rao who had to attend to his duty by 9 a.m. and in the evenings, his schedule was equally hectic as he had to proactively take part in the massive 'Ukku Udhyamam' wherein the slogan 'Visakha Ukku Andhrula Hakku' reverberated louder in the erstwhile United Andhra Pradesh.

It was like any other day at work on November 1, 1966 when Shankar Rao, accompanied by a team of 10, reached the FCI godown where a dispute was brewing between the workers, who intensified the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant agitation, and the police.

After making compromises with the parties, Shankar Rao and his team nudged the workers safely from the godown.

Meanwhile, tension gripped the Velampeta area in Visakhapatnam at Telegraph office as clashes between the protesters and the police intensified when Rao reached the spot. Amid chaotic scenes, the cap of a cop fell off. It triggered anger and the police opened fire on the protesters all of a sudden.

Before Rao could realise the gruesome scenes unfolding right in front of his eyes, an agitator was shot dead, creating panic among the protesters who came in droves to Velampeta. Another bullet passed, slightly scraping Shankar Rao's throat, making him bleed. When he was rescued and mounted on a rickshaw, the cycle rickshaw peddler was also fired on by the police.

By the time Rao got admitted to King George Hospital, he had already lost consciousness. "The injured were not allowed to get admitted to the hospital by the police. Treatment for them began much after the intervention of Tenneti Viswanadham. If they were brought to the hospital on time, some of them would have still been alive like me," recalls Shankar Rao, who suffered a bullet injury in his neck in the police firing.

Back then, after the completion of the throat surgery, Rao was kept along with the dead bodies and shifted to the mortuary, assuming he was dead. "It was only hours later the doctor realised that I was taken to the mortuary alive and moved me to another ward wherein I continued my treatment for a few more weeks," shares Shankar Rao.

Even after getting discharged from the hospital, Rao, who survived the bullet injury, continued his treatment at home for another three months. Although he had overcome the biggest ordeal of life 56 years ago, Rao says that the shadows of the past continue to haunt him. "Since a small piece of pipe was placed inside my throat, life was never the same as I could not drink or eat or speak like others," he elaborates. Except for this, the 75-year-old has no other health complaints.

Sharing his views on the Centre's decision to privatise Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, Rao says, "Steel plant has a glorious history and much sacrifice had gone into establishing. Back then, the battle was won. However, to make the current Ukku stir more impactful, students should intervene. Saving steel plant from private players would eventually benefit them at large as they would get more employment opportunities."

Currently, participating in the 365-day-old relay hunger strike of the Visakha Ukku Parirakshana Porata Committee, Rao, who retired as a senior engineer from Hindustan Shipyard Limited, says that he will continue to be part of the present agitation to save the VSP which has always been close to his heart.