HYDERABAD: Alleging that interference from Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s family members and BRS MLAs in the affairs of Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL) has pushed the company into a financial crisis, Union Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy on Wednesday demanded the State government release a white paper on SCCL’s debts, operations, condition and the future of contract and outsourced workers of the company.
Addressing media persons in New Delhi, Kishan asked the BRS government to explain to the people of the State “how and why it was looking to mortgage the hard work and funds of SCCL workers by investing in the Vizag Steel Plant (VSP)”.
He accused the Chief Minister’s family members of playing a political stunt in the name of investing in VSP through SCCL on one side, and instigating SCCL workers to hold deeksha, only because SCCL Employees Union elections are scheduled to be held in the coming days.
“The situation is such that the management is laying a red carpet for the misuse of power by going to BRS MLAs’ houses with official files,” Kishan alleged. He alleged that SCCL has become a pocket organisation of BRS, and that MLAs were even interfering in the change of shifts of the workers.
While SCCL’s annual turnover has increased from Rs 12,000 crore in 2014 to Rs 32,830 crore last year, there has been no corresponding increase in profits, Kishan claimed.