As Andhra celebrates Sankranti, Vizag steel plant staff go without salaries

Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) employees face salary delays during Sankranti, leading to protests and financial struggles.

When the State celebrates Sankranti, Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) employees are worried because they have yet to receive their salaries.

According to union leaders, this is the first in the four-decade history of RINL-VSP that such a delay has occurred in the payment of December salary. Employees have not received their salaries on time and in full since September 2024, they added.

“We are yet to receive our salaries as of Wednesday (January 15), even after Sankranti. It is a sombre moment for our family as I have not been able to buy new clothes for my children and parents on this festive occasion. I have been trying to save money in any way possible since the salary problems started at the plant,” said an executive, who did not wish to be named.

Varasala Srinivasa Rao, a member of the Visakha Ukku Parirakshana Porata Committee, said that when all the Telugu people across the State, including Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu, were celebrating Sankranti, VSP employees staged a protest without shirts on at the main gate of the plant on festival day, demanding payment of their pending salaries.

“We never imagined that our situation would change like this. Once the steel plant was a matter of pride for every employee, but now the situation is not like that. NDA leaders like [Chief Minister N.] Chandrababu Naidu, [Deputy Chief Minister K.] Pawan Kalyan and [Gajuwaka MLA and TDP state president] Palla Srinivasa Rao betrayed us at the recent Prime Minister’s meeting in the city by not uttering a single word about our plant and plight. We have decided to protest at the office of Mr. Palla Srinivasa Rao on January 19 to raise our issues, including the one on pending salaries,” said Mr. Varasala Srinivasa Rao.

On the other hand, J. Ayodhya Ramu, vice-president of the Steel Workers Federation of India (SWFI), said the federation would hold a meeting in Kolkata on January 16 to seek the support of all trade unions to save the steel plant.

“RINL-VSP earned ₹2,002 crore in December 2024 by selling its steel products. The government collected about ₹360 crore as taxes. Our salaries in December amount to ₹90 crore. About 63% of the salaries of the 12,300 regular employees is pending for the past four months. Moreover, there has been no pay revision; we currently have the 2012 salary packages,” Mr. Ayodhya Ramu told The Hindu.