The government legally cannot privatise Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) as 26,000 acres of land, acquired by the then State government for a public purpose, cannot be alienated for other purposes as per Section 3 (f) IV of the Land Acquisition Act, Jana Sena Party (JSP) general secretary T. Sivasankar has said.
Addressing the media along with JSP Political Affairs Committee (PAC) Member Kona Tata Rao and JSP general secretary Bolisetty Satyanarayana here on Friday, Mr. Sivasankar said that 7,000 displaced persons (R cardholders) were yet to get jobs in the steel plant.
Pawan Kalyan’s visit
The JSP president Pawan Kalyan would address a public meeting against privatisation of the VSP at Kurmannapalem, in the city, on October 31, he said. Calling it an apolitical meeting, the JSP general secretary appealed to all sections to participate in large numbers and make it a success. He said that the party has already applied for police permission and expressed optimism that it would be given early. Replying to a query, he said that alliance with the BJP was only for elections and it did not prevent the JSP from opposing policies, which were detrimental to the interests of the people.
Mr. Satyanarayana said that at the roundtable organised by the JSP on September 19, the Visakha Ukku Nirvasitula Sangam had said that a visit by Mr. Pawan Kalyan would boost the agitation, which was going on for 250 days. Subsequently, both the Nirvasitula Sangham and the Porata Committee had sent letters to Mr. Pawan Kalyan to plan an early visit to stall the privatisation of VSP.
He recalled that Mr. Pawan Kalyan and the JSP’s PAC Chairman Nadendla Manohar had met Home Minister Amit Shah and told him that VSP was not just another public sector steel plant but has sentimental attachment to the people of Visakhapatnam as it was established after several sacrifices.
Mr. Tata Rao said that the problem of displaced persons was in existence for four decades. When the Centre had announced its decision on strategic sale of VSP on January 27 Mr. Pawan Kalyan and Mr. Manohar were the first to meet Mr. Amit Shah in February and seek its continuation in the public sector, he said.
He said that the issue is related to all Telugu people and called upon all parties to sink their political differences and fight for protection of the steel plant.
