Barely three days after the largely successful strike by all the trade unions of the state-owned Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL), the Union Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi defended in Parliament the Centre’s decision to auction four coal blocks. This drew the ire of some of the major workers’ unions of the SCCL.
Mr. Joshi’s statement evoked condemnation from the Centre of Indian Trade Unions-affiliated Singareni Collieries Employees Union (SCEU), one of the constituent trade unions of the Joint Action Committee (JAC) that spearheaded a 72-hour strike from December 9 to 11. All the trade unions of the SCCL across the political spectrum observed the strike to send out a strong message to the Centre to stop the auction of four coal blocks in Telangana for commercial mining.
The SCCL is the sole government coal mining company in south India. It is jointly owned by the Telangana government and the Centre on a 51:49 equity basis. The 72-hour strike by the JAC comprising the Singareni workers’ unions affiliated to five central trade unions paralysed operations in the company’s 45 coal mines spanning six districts. The strike resulted in production loss of over 4.50 lakh tonnes of coal and a revenue loss of about ₹120 crore to the company.
The JAC’s main demand is the withdrawal of the Coal Ministry’s move to auction the four coal blocks in the State. The SCCL caters to the coal needs of various thermal power stations in Telangana and the neighbouring States. The Centre’s move comes at a time when the SCCL has ambitious plans to open new coal mines and expand its operations outside the State. The company has set itself an ambitious target of enhancing coal production to 850 lakh tonnes per annum within three years. Its coal output target for the current fiscal is 680 lakh tonnes.
The SCCL evolved into a growth engine of Telangana by embracing sophisticated technologies, increasing productivity and by foraying into thermal and solar power generation. Surmounting the pandemic-induced production disruptions last fiscal, it posted sales of ₹11,920 crore in the first half of the 2021-22 fiscal, 67% higher compared to the sales achieved during the first six months of the last financial year.
The unions are up in arms against what they term as the “rigid stand” of the Centre over the issue which could hamper the SCCL’s growth plans. Taking strong objection to Mr. Joshi’s statement, the SCEU warned of an intensive agitation involving all the trade unions and political parties in Telangana to stall the “privatisation” of coal blocks in the State. The unions’ demand stems from the fact that the SCCL incurred huge expenditure on coal exploration in the four coal blocks which have an overall coal reserve of 470 million tonnes and by virtue of being the government-run coal company with a distinguished track record, the SCCL deserves them.
The Indian National Trade Union Congress has long been demanding that the State government pay the share capital value to the Central government to take over the SCCL to avoid the risk of privatisation. The RSS-affiliate Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh is critical of the increasing “contractualisation” in the SCCL’s coal mines. The SCEU is mulling another round of agitation to secure the four coal blocks for the SCCL.
It is imperative to halt the entry of private companies into the Singareni coal belt region to save the largest public sector undertaking, the livelihoods of thousands of workers, and avoid serious socioeconomic and environmental consequences. Unions are bracing for a sustained struggle to ward off the “threat of privatisation” and save the SCCL, the lifeline of thousands of coal workers and the growth engine of the State.
sridhar.ponnam@thehindu.co.in
