Private canteens removed from RINL-VSP plant premises

Hundreds of families have lost their livelihood and thousands of workers have been deprived of refreshments and snacks after the Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited-Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (RINL-VSP) removed private tea-stalls and canteens, said Visakha Steel Workers Union (VSWU), affiliated to the AITUC.

The management demolished the canteens on the orders of the Union Steel Ministry. There were around 40 private canteens, which, according to the plant management, were unauthorised.

Some of the famous ones — Lala Canteen, Amar Singh Canteen and Nair Canteen — were favourite places of the workers, who came across the country, as their traditional dishes were available there.

“The plant management served individual ‘closure’ notices, signed by an officer of the rank of general manager, on all the private canteens, instructing them to immediately close the canteen and vacate RINL premises, failing which necessary action would be taken. The reason cited was that these canteens were being run with free water, electricity, packing materials and other amenities,” said VSWU president K.S.N. Rao

“The steel plant’s decision has not only affected the livelihood of the canteen owners and workers, but also the basic amenities of thousands of plant workers, particularly contract staff with low salaries, who are now unable to get tea and snacks, particularly during night shifts. They have to travel at least five to six kilometres to have them. These canteens have been in operation since the plant’s construction, which began in the 1980s. We had brought this issue to the notice of the management … but there has been no response,” Mr. Rao told The Hindu on Saturday.

According to Mr. Rao, tea should be available to workers from 10 a.m. to noon and from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. for regular shift workers. Workers in areas like SMS, BF, COCCP, SP should have tea available 24 hours a day and in the Mills section of the plant, from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m.

VSWU general secretary D. Adinarayana said: “Though there are some authorised canteens in steel plant, they are located far from the work sites and their maintenance hours are limited … So, 90% of the steel plant workforce liked to have tea and snacks at private canteens.”

Steel plant sources said these private canteens initially used firewood for cooking before upgrading to LPG gas. These were the meeting points of employees back in the day when cell phones were not available. Workers would come and meet colleagues and discuss matters relating to professional and personal life.

“The golden era of Vizag Steel has been wiped out,” recalls a senior employee who took voluntary retirement on the plant’s orders earlier this year.