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Workers oppose SAIL unit divestment

Workers of Visveswaraya Iron and Steel Industries Limited, or VISL, have opposed the Steel Authority of India's, or SAIL's, move to divest the unit. They have urged the government to transfer the ownership of the unit to the Ministry of Defence, as SAIL is not interested in running the company.

In a memorandum to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Defence Minister George Fernandes, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee and other ministers, the workers said that VISL was supplying high-quality alloy and special steel to various defence industries on a regular basis. It was also capable of catering to the needs of atomic energy, railways and the automobile sector, the memorandum said.

The workers said there was a conspiracy by the SAIL management to sell off the VISL stake at a 'throwaway price'. The government had cleared in February, the proposal and the SAIL was proceeding with undue haste to privatise VISL.

The signatories included L Range Gowda, H G Umapathy and T M Vilvanathan.

The workers said that SAIL had decided to enter into non-core businesses like power generation and shipping and was now reversing its decision without any justification. They alleged that the SAIL management did not make the promised investments in VISL, virtually killing the plant.

They also alleged that SAIL used VISL as a dumping ground without providing efficient administration.

UNI

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