Visakhapatnam Steel Plant employees’ union approaches PMO over pending VRS dues

Visakha Steel Employees’ Union general secretary Padi Trinath Rao has appealed to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) over the inordinate delay in clearing the dues of employees who have opted for the Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) from the Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL).Raising formal grievances through Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS), Mr. Rao pointed out that RINL was saving over ₹500 crore annually—amounting to a reduction of ₹60 crore per month in the wage bill—following the exit of senior workforce. Despite these recurring savings, RINL has withheld the disbursement of pending VRS packages and Earned Leave (EL) encashment dues of approximately ₹75 crore.Mr. Rao noted that the scheme was introduced as an operational condition tied to the Central government’s revival package for the plant. Employees with over 35 years of service surrendered their tenure to facilitate the corporate restructuring amid a severe financial downturn.Challenging the standard response issued by the RINL on the public grievance portal stating that payments would resume only after the company’s financial health improves—the union leader questioned the validity of linking exit payouts to the future profitability, when the scheme was deployed during a crisis.He emphasised that retirees aged 58 and above were facing acute financial distress, struggling to service housing EMIs, clear children’s higher education loans, and manage urgent medical expenses.The union has urged the Centre to intervene directly, override the plant administration’s ‘copy-paste closure of grievances’, and direct RINL to clear all the dues immediately. Published - September 05, 2026 07:50 pm IST