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The YSR Congress government is making fresh efforts to resolve the Chittivalasa jute mill issue, which has remained unsolved for the past decade in Visakhapatnam district.
The 100-year-old Chittivalasa jute mill has been under lockout since April 20, 2009. Two successive governments, under the Congress and the Telugu Desam Party, made unsuccessful efforts to resolve the issue.
The YSR Congress made an electoral promise that it would reopen the jute mill on assuming charge. State Tourism Minister Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao, popularly known as Avanti Srinivasa Rao, has been elected from Bheemli constituency in Visakhapatnam district and the mill falls within his constituency.
Srinivasa Rao said, “We are serious and sincere in our efforts to resolve the decade-long issue, unlike the previous TDP government, and we will certainly find a way out to help the 6,000-odd workers dependent on the mill. We have contacted the Kolkata-based owners and a tripartite meeting is convened on Tuesday in Visakhapatnam to resolve the issue. We have asked the management to make it clear whether it can run the mill or not, and we will see how best the workers can be compensated if the management is not in a position to run the mill.”
The Congress government declared the lockout illegal through a GO, and subsequently the matter went to the AP High Court and it is still subjudice. The mill, with a capacity of 100 tonnes per day, was once one of the biggest industrial units in Visakhapatnam district. It has roughly 70 acres of land near Bheemli and the unions have often accused the management of trying to dispose of some of the lands. The YSR Congress leaders in the past also accused the TDP leaders of being hand in glove with the management to grab the lands.
The union leaders want the government to take over the mill, if the management is not in a position to run the mill, and protect the interests of the workers. “The lockout was illegal and after a decade the management is offering grossly inadequate compensation to the workers. It is for the YSR Congress government to protect the interests of the workers, as promised,” Ch. Narasinga Rao, a CPM leader, said.
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