‘Governments running business is unconstitutional’
Visakhapatnam: Speakers at a function to conference on ‘Save Visakhapatnam steel plant’ here on Sunday observed that governments running business is unconstitutional but unfortunately they ignored welfare of the people served the public sector undertakings on a platter to corporate houses. Addressing the gathering of poets, journalists, artistes and trade union leaders in the conference […]
Visakhapatnam: Speakers at a function to conference on ‘Save Visakhapatnam steel plant’ here on Sunday observed that governments running business is unconstitutional but unfortunately they ignored welfare of the people served the public sector undertakings on a platter to corporate houses.
Addressing the gathering of poets, journalists, artistes and trade union leaders in the conference organised by Writers’ Academy, former MP Vundavalli Arun Kumar noted that people had the right to natural resources and the Visakhapatnam steel plant, established after a lot of struggles and sacrifices should be continued in the public sector. Modi believed in capitalism and given an opportunity, he would sell all and sundry, he remarked. The BJP continued the RSS ideology and was working with the aim to drive out Muslims, Christians, and socialists, he alleged.
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“They say that the steel plant will remain here. But if the management changes, the people are bound to lose. How can they show lands worth thousands of crores of rupees as a meagre Rs 50 crore in the balance sheet?” he wondered, and argued that 60 to 70 per cent of earnings of the workers were pumped back to the government. He urged people’s representatives to question the government on this and demand changes in the statute to benefit the working class. He also felt there was need to intensify the movement to prevent privatisation of Visakhapatnam steel plant.
Arun Kunmar suggested that the state government should come forward to take over the steel plant and run it as was done in the neighbouring state.
Former Joint Director of CBI, Lakshminarayana, recalled that the Visakhapatnam steel plant had supplied steel for the Sardar Vallabhai Patel statue, construction of a tunnel in Jammu and Kashmir and housing projects under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna. He had even filed a public interest litigation against privatisation of the steel plant in the court and the government was dilly dallying in filing its counter, he stated.
