A number of struggles and a lot of sacrifice has led to the establishment of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) but politicians are out to destroy it for their vested interests, said former Vice-Chancellor of Damodaram Sanjivayya National Law University (DSNLU) Y. Satyanarayana.
He was speaking at a roundtable organised to oppose the privatisation of the VSP, at the TLN Sabha Hall of Andhra University, here on Tuesday.
The steel plant was like a necklace for the city, besides being a national asset. The privatisation of the plant would result in loss of employment and livelihood for the local people. Production and supply should be in the hands of the government, he said.
D. Suvarna Raju, a former president of the AU Students’ Union, who had filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the AP High Court, said that handing over the VSP to a private player, would deprive the underprivileged sections of the benefit of reservations. He deplored the adamant attitude of the Centre on the issue.
N. Desinga Raju, a former professor, said that as the VSP was a public sector enterprise, the opinions of the public should be taken through a referendum before going ahead with the decision on privatisation.
A number of former professors participated in the roundtable.
