Stir against move to privatise VSP will continue, says committee
The Hindu
‘Centre should reconsider its policies in view of the pandemic’
The agitation against privatisation of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) will be continued till the Centre withdrew its decision on selling 100% stake in the steel plant, Visakha Ukku Porata Committee co-convener Gandham Venkata Rao has said. He was addressing the participants on the 88th day of the relay hunger strikes, being held at the Steel Plant arch at Kurmannapalem here on Tuesday. He said that the government should reconsider its policies in view of the COVID-19 pandemic and the plight of the workers. The Centre should also initiate measures to check the spread of the pandemic and to issue guidelines to the States from time to time. He called upon the workers to take adequate precautions and adopt COVID-19 protocols to protect themselves from the pandemic, during the agitation.The election authorities are gearing up for the counting of votes cast in the simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh, scheduled to be held on June 4. The Collectors and Election Officers of Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli and Alluri Sitharama Raju (ASR) districts said on May 23 (Thursday) that their teams were ready for the counting of votes.
Responding to the prolonged water scarcity, the residents of the area took to the streets in protest on Wednesday. The protest, which drew attention to their plight, stopped only after the intervention of the police. It was not until 1.30 p.m. that a 4000-litre tanker was finally delivered by BWSSB, providing relief to the water-starved residents.