Public sector still fuels city’s economy, as govt pushes IT

  • | Thursday | 15th November, 2018

“The role of the public sector cannot be emphasized enough,” says the professor. The role of the public sector in Visakhapatnam cannot be underestimated going by the outrage at the government’s plan to divest its majority stake in the Dredging Corporation of India Ltd (DCIL). “And most of the PSU jobs are well-paying and stimulate consumption in the city. We could not sit quietly while the government handed over the company to a private party,” says Ch Narasinga Rao, president of the AP unit of CITU, a trade union. It recently hired 573 junior trainees to replace its retiring employees.

Visakhapatnam: Even as the state government is pushing to position the port city as the hub of financial technology (fintech) industry, it will be a while before the public sector, which has been the key driver of the city’s economy for many decades, is replaced by the private sector as the major creator of jobs, industry sources said.Last month, Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu announced at the Vizag fintech festival, sponsored by the government, that the sector is expected to create 15,000 well-paying jobs in the next five years.“The committed employment in IT companies is 36,000 over the next 3-5 years, but currently there are between 22,000-23,000 workers in the IT sector in Visakhapatnam. Committed employment is the number of jobs IT companies promise to create when they seek land or office space from the government at subsidized rates,” said a government source.While two large and listed software companies have already set up their development centres in the city, they are yet to employ a significant number of people. While the IT sector is yet to make a significant contribution to the city’s economy, the various public sector units have been puttering along, providing stable and well-paying jobs to locals as well people from around the country, says BN Singh, a former CMD of RINL-VSP.According to a professor of economics at Andhra University, the PSU units and Indian Navy together account for over 60,000 jobs in the city, including 20,000 in the Indian navy and the naval dockyard. “The role of the public sector cannot be emphasized enough,” says the professor. “And most of the PSU jobs are well-paying and stimulate consumption in the city. That is the reason why so many shopping malls have come up here in the last few years,” he points out.RINL, the single largest employer in the city with over 18,000 employees, continue to hire people. It recently hired 573 junior trainees to replace its retiring employees. The role of the public sector in Visakhapatnam cannot be underestimated going by the outrage at the government’s plan to divest its majority stake in the Dredging Corporation of India Ltd (DCIL). The public outcry led the government to drop the divestment plan, and float the proposal to get three major ports to acquire the government’s stake in DCIL.“DCIL is one of the few PSUs with its headquarters in Visakhapatnam. We could not sit quietly while the government handed over the company to a private party,” says Ch Narasinga Rao, president of the AP unit of CITU, a trade union.

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