The Hindu Business Line : Vizag steel plant is a Gandhian's dream come true, says CMD

The Post Master General, Mr S.K. Chakrabarti, garlanding a magnified picture of the stamp released in honour of Tenneti Viswanadham, an eminent Gandhian and freedom fighter, in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday. Mr Y. Sivasagara Rao, CMD of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, is by his side. Viswanadham led the agitation in the late sixties for setting up the steel plant with the slogan "Visakha Ukku (steel) Andhrula Hakku (right)." -- K.R. Deepak

Visakhapatnam , Nov. 10

"THE Visakhapatnam steel plant is the realisation of late Tenneti Viswanadham's dream as he had led the agitation for the plant which inspired us in our youth. He coined the slogan - Visakha Ukku (steel), Andhrula Hakku (right)," recalled Mr Y. Sivasagara Rao, the Chairman and Managing Director of the steel plant, here on Wednesday.

He was speaking at a function organised by the postal department on the occasion of the release of a commemorative stamp in honour of Tenneti Viswanadham (1895-1979), a Gandhian and freedom-fighter, who led the agitation in the late sixties for the steel plant. Mr S.K. Chakrabarti, the Post-Master General, released the stamp.

"That slogan reverberated in our hearts in those days. It is a poignant moment in my life now that I am heading the plant for which Tenneti had waged such a selfless struggle.

"In spite of the initial opposition from the Union Government then, the plant has finally become a reality. After the initial hiccups, it has turned around and is now on the growth path,'' Mr Rao said.

Mr Sivasagara Rao is the first full-fledged CMD from the State. He said that he would strive hard for the further development of the plant for which Tenneti and other great men had waged such an arduous struggle.

Mr D.V. Subba Rao, the former mayor of the Visakhapatnam municipal corporation, said Mr Sivasagara Rao too had participated in his youth in the struggle for the plant.

Mr D. Satyanarayana, MLA, said that Tenneti had practised principled politics and commanded the respect of even his political opponents. A brochure released by the postal department on the occasion gives a brief sketch of Tenneti's life. Born at Lakkavaram in Visakhapatnam district in 1895, he joined the freedom struggle inspired by Gandhiji and participated in the salt satyagraha and the Quit India movement.

He spent five years in jails before independence. He was elected to the Madras Legislative Assembly in the first-ever elections held to the legislatures in 1937. He served as the leader of the Opposition in the Madras Assembly in 1951.

After the separation of the State of Andhra from Madras presidency, he served as the Minister for Finance and Law.

He died in 1979, but his dream came true as Rajiv Gandhi took up the construction of the plant for which the foundation stone had been laid by Indira Gandhi in 1971.

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