Shipyard workers celebrate merger

Dec. 24: Workers and family members of Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL) celebrated the merger with Defence department burning fire crackers and distributing sweets here on Thursday evening.
The Union Cabinet took the decision of merger of HSL with defence department and for setting up of a shipyard of international standard. Former chief minister Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy had promised to the local people and employees on the eve of 2009 elections that the merger would be on top of agenda.
“We are celebrating the event by burning fire crackers and distributing sweets. We sincerely thank the Union minister for shipping, other officials and the local political leaders who took the initiative,” said Hindustan Shipyard Limited Staff and Workers Union general secretary Mr G Appa Rao.
Mr Rao demanded that the new wage agreement due this year should be signed and implemented during this transition period and the dues of retired employees and those who took voluntary retirement should be cleared immediately. Similarly, dearness allowance (DA) arrears should also be paid to the staff and workers, he said. The proposed ship building unit of international standards should be build here since the city is located in a strategic position in the east coast. Ships docking in the port and in need of repairs could be taken care off here, he said.
The shipyard foundation was laid on June 21, 1941 by Walchand Hirachand who founded Scindia Steam Navigation Company. The first ship Jala Usha was launched by the country’s first prime minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru on March 14, 1948. The government took over the shipyard in July 1961 and rechristened as HSL.
Incurring losses over the last few years, the HSL was making a turnaround slowly. Currently, it has refit order of submarine INS Sindukeerti, 10 vessels for Good Earth Marine company and five vessels for Coa-st Guard. The shipyard has also taken up the repair of ONGC rig Sangamitra whi-ch would cost Rs 450 crore.