JAC commemorates 2000 days of protest against privatization of Vizag steel plant

JAC of all party workers and people’s organizations raise slogans at the Gandhi statue near the GVMC office on Sunday during a protest of 2000 days of their joint agitation against the proposed privatization of Visakhapatnam steel plant. | Photo credit: IN PARADISE

The Joint Action Committee (JAC) of labor and people’s organizations, which opposed the privatization of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, protested for 2,000 days at the Gandhi statue near the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) office in the city on Sunday.

JAC leaders said workers and people were ready for more struggles to protect the steel plant and called for intensified protests. They said the protest was started on April 2, 2021 in solidarity with the workers’ protests in Kurmannapalem and continued during COVID-19.

JAC chairman M. Jaggu Naidu, vice-chairman B. Nagabhushanam and other leaders demanded that the plant be allotted its own mines or be merged with the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL). They also demanded reinstatement of contract workers and operation of the plant at full capacity.

Executives said 6,000 contract workers have been decommissioned and about 2,000 employees have opted for voluntary retirement. They also alleged that the ₹11,400 crore package announced for the plant was not used for its development, workers’ salaries, equipment repairs or raw materials.

The JAC demanded that the plant land should not be allotted to other organizations.

Published – 20 Sep 2026 22:02 IST