Date:03/05/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/05/03/stories/2008050358460300.htm

Andhra Pradesh - Visakhapatnam

Dock Labour Board merger with VPT to materialise soon

Santosh Patnaik

Merger issue hanging fire due to procedural wrangles for past 10 years

VISAKHAPATNAM: The much-delayed merger of Visakhapatnam Dock Labour Board with the Visakhapatnam Port Trust is going to materialise shortly.

The merger issue, hanging fire due to procedural wrangles for past 10 years, has caused a loss of Rs.10 crores. DLBs have been merged with the ports of Mumbai, Chennai, Kandla, Kochi and Goa long ago as a cost-cutting measure.

The first and foremost priority of DLB here should be absorbing of 347 master list candidates as promised last year. This will help solve the workers’ problem preventing it from losing levy money from the stevedores. Once merged, DLB will become a cargo handling section in the traffic division of VPT.

Officials say merger will ensure fast decision-making. Both HMS and AITUC-affiliated unions are lending their support to the proposal.

Settlement

Sources said that the merger was only a matter of time. The managements of the port and dock have to sign the settlement documents before the Assistant Commissioner of Labour along with the union representatives.

S.R. Kulkarni, president of the All India Port and Dock Workers’ Federation, said the merger proposal was approved by the Secretary of Shipping on January 30 and the Ministry of Shipping issued the orders and communicated it to the Chairman of DLB vide a letter dated February 19.

As per the Government Orders, the approval of the Ministry and the terms of settlement were placed before VPT board of trustees on March 19. D.K. Sarma, VPT trustee and president of the Visakhapatnam Port Employees’ Union, said there was no hurdle for merger as the proposal was accepted in the board meeting unanimously. VPT, which ranked the top port in the country for seven consecutive years, was relegated to second position this year with the handling of 64.69 million tonnes. Though the Kandla claimed throughput of 64.89 million tonnes, the VPT formally lodged a complaint with the Ministry accusing Kandla of counting twice the transhipped cargo misinterpreting unidirectional traffic.