Displaced Persons Hold Dharna at VSP, Gangavaram Port
Hundreds of plant-displaced persons having R-Cards took out a rally from Hilltop guest house to the main gate of the steel plant. Hundreds of police personnel were on deployment there to ensure peace.
DC Correspondent
Visakhapatnam, Dec. 8
A tense situation prevailed at Visakhapatnam Steel Plant and Adani Gangavaram Port, where displaced persons and fishermen respectively staged dharna pressing their demands on Monday.
Hundreds of plant-displaced persons having R-Cards took out a rally from Hilltop guest house to the main gate of the steel plant. Hundreds of police personnel were on deployment there to ensure peace.
The R-Card holders had given thousands of acres of agricultural land for construction of the steel plant in the hope the plant would provide employment to their children. But half of the 16,000 displaced were yet to get the jobs.
Sources said while around 8,000 persons were given permanent jobs, 3,000 out of the remaining 8,000 were given contract jobs. Recently, however, the contracts of all the 3,000 were terminated.
“We want a one-time settlement, like a one- acre land for each of the displaced persons, or distribution of the surplus land of the steel plant to all these yet-to-be employed persons,’’ said a senior member of the protesters.
The steel plant management refused to engage in discussions with the protesters, on the pretext that the issue would be dealt with by the central government.
In Adani Gangavaram Port, the displaced fishermen tried to barge into the port premises. They sought payment of the balance amount of `2.3 lakh, which was part of the one-time settlement reached last year in the presence of the district collector, labor commissioner, port management representative and fisherfolk leader.
The talks were held after the port terminated 500 contract employees and agreed for a one- time payment of `24.77 lakh for each terminated employee. For some reasons, the balance amount was withheld.
After deputy mayor Dalli Govinda Reddy failed to discuss matters with the management, the issue was taken to the Gajuwaka MLA and Telugu Desam state president Palla Srinivasa Rao.
Rao summoned a port official and asked him to pay the balance amount immediately. The official sought two weeks’ time to settle the matter.
