JAC marks 2,000 days of protest against Vizag steel plant privatisation

The Joint Action Committee (JAC) in Visakhapatnam has marked 2,000 days of protest against the privatisation of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant. The protest began on April 2, 2021, in solidarity with workers at Kurmannapalem and continued throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. JAC leaders, including M. Jaggu Naidu and B. Nagabhushanam, are demanding that the plant be allocated captive mines or merged with the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL).

They also call for the reinstatement of contract workers and the plant to operate at full capacity. The JAC alleges that 6,000 contract workers have been removed and 2,000 employees have opted for voluntary retirement, with the ₹11,400-crore package not being used for workers' salaries, equipment repairs, or raw materials. They also demand that the plant's land not be allotted to other organisations.

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