The Centre has decided to “right size” manpower at major ports, the union minister of ports, shipping and waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal told Parliament on Tuesday.
“The present manpower strength at major ports, including Visakhapatnam Port, is excessive due to changes in technology and mechanization over the years. As a result, the manpower cost of major ports is very high as compared to private ports. Hence, it has been decided to right-size the manpower of major ports,” Sonowal wrote in response to a question from V Vijayasai Reddy, a law maker in the Rajya Sabha from the YSR Congress Party.
The total manpower strength of Visakhapatnam Port Authority is 4,003 out of which 1,112 posts are currently vacant, representing about 25 per cent of the sanctioned strength of the port.