Telangana: Telangana’s priceless gem or the goose that lays the golden egg?
Hyderabad: The recent meeting of Union Minister of Coal and Mines G Kishan Reddy with workers of the Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL), held as part of the ‘Singareni Bharosa Yatra’ at the Manuguru PKOC-2 Mine site,virtually turned into a platform for coal miners’ indictment of successive governments in the state, indicating that their woes stem from excessive political interference in corporate governance. The workers made fervent pleas to the Union Coal Ministry to secure their release from two conflicting realities: one, SCCL as a crown jewel of Telangana; two, the company being looked at as a ‘golden goose ’ by successive political bosses, leaving the firm with perennially mounting financial burden.
Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) leaders asked him point blank: “How can a company with about Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 crore gap between its turnover and debt burden, with thousands of employees, be expected to run the show and become profitable? That too, when none other than successive governments owe to the company amounts to the tune of Rs 54,000 crore but none bothered to clear the dues.”
Speaking to The Hans India, Ravi Nayak (name changed), a coal miner, pointed out that unlike in the past, workers are finding it tough even to cover their families’ medical bills. This contrasts with the system in companies like Coal India, where even contract workers are being extended insurance coverage for corporate hospital treatment, he rued. Politics
That apart, the present contractor workers’ system, has been taking a toll on the coal workers. “The contractors pay a little over Rs 550. On the other hand, the companies like Coal India pay more than Rs 1,000. This disparity, the workers alleged, was because, when the coal mines were allocated, companies were not allowed to hire employees under the diktats of successive governments; the mine development workers were given to the contractors. The contractors not only exploited the workers but also paid meagre salaries, alleged Soma Sekhar, another worker who attended another meeting in Tadicherla village.
The workers alleged that the situation has become so precarious that not only the workers but even the officers of the SCCL hit the roads to protest and go on a hunger strike. However, “the powers that be from Hyderabad “remote controlling the SCCL” forced and got the hunger strike place vacated a day before the visit of the Union Minister. “When officials themselves are going on the relay hunger strike and protests, who will maintain the administrative discipline and what message would go to the workers and how will it affect their morale,” asked another leader. Similarly, the workers asked that when they visit the state capital, they see housing colonies for workers everywhere, such as those of RTC and other state and central public undertakings. However, the housing for the Singareni Coal workers remained an elusive dream for decades. “Are we who power the state not fit to be extended similar treatment,” they asked and urged the Union Minister to prevail upon the SSCL and the state government to address providing housing for all the coalmine workers’ families. Executive Branch
Lastly, they urged the Union Coal Minister to impress upon the SSCL and the state government not to hand over the Tadicherla-2 allocated by the Centre to the contractors. Instead, the SSCL should take it up on its own to create employment opportunities.
