WB: CITU Organises Mass Convention Against Closing Down of a NISCO Plant in Howrah

Kolkata: "The West Bengal government is hell-bent on closing down the NISCO (National Iron and Steel Company Limited) plant by not completing its merger process with Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) and selling off the 120-acre land assets in the Belur region of the Howrah district to private realtors. Until now, the state government has already closed down 46 of the 92 state-owned units," alleged CITU (Centre of Indian Trade Unions) state secretary Anadi Sahoo at a citizens' conclave and mass convention held at the gate of a NISCO factory in Belur.

Sahoo added that the Central government is also following a similar pattern; it is yet to add a new unit in the state but wishes to close down the existing working PSU units. 

"Many Howrah district units have been closed down by the Central government. The employees of these units are resisting such actions."

Sahoo appealed to the working-class population of the state to start agitations supporting the workers of NISCO. 

The CITU convention was organised with the demand to start a new production unit on NISCO's land. Other left organisations joined the five-hour-long convention. Apart from Sahoo, CITU leader Sameer Saha and Dileep Ghosh, leader of the democratic movement of the Howrah district, participated in the convention. 

The NISCO unit in Howrah was closed a while ago. In 1979, after being closed for a considerable period, the NISCO company started its operation in Belur. The production unit started its operations in 1980. The state government took over the unit in 1984.

In 2001, the then-Left Front government completed the modernisation of the rolling mill of the unit with SAIL. Later, the company suffered from a lack of working capital. After a CITU movement, the company was to be taken over by SAIL. However, before the merger between NISCO and SAIL could complete, the Left Front government was replaced by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government. Instead of completing the merger, the new government decided to close down the unit.

Since then, the TMC government has yet to invest in reviving the unit, adversely affecting the existing infrastructure, including the rolling mill, foundry unit, machine shop, electric arc furnaces and other buildings.