HYDERABAD: Telangana Jagruthi president K Kavitha on Sunday challenged Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka to order an inquiry into alleged corruption, instead of targeting worker recruitments in Singareni. The former MLC, speaking at a roundtable on ‘Save Singareni’ held at the Jagruthi office in Hyderabad, objected to the Deputy CM’s recent directive ordering vigilance and ACB probes into dependent appointments in the Singareni Collieries Company Limited.
She asked: “Are you ready for an inquiry into your government’s corruption instead of Singareni jobs?” She alleged that the move was driven by political vendetta following the exposure of irregularities in the Naini coal block. Kavitha further alleged large-scale corruption in key agreements, including an Rs 11,000 crore solar power deal with Rajasthan and a Rs 2,250 crore agreement with a little-known firm, Alt Min, for a lithium refinery project.
Questioning the firm’s credibility, she claimed that a company with negligible revenue was awarded a massive contract. She demanded a white paper on both deals and called for those allegedly involved behind the scenes to be exposed.
Kavitha also cited alleged financial losses to Singareni, including Rs 250 crore in a diesel scam, over Rs 1,000 crore due to uncollected additional charges, Rs 24 crore from leakages and Rs 74 crore due to violations, attributing these figures to audit observations.
The meeting passed five major resolutions, including urging the state to pass a resolution against the Centre’s labour codes in the Assembly, immediate constitution of a medical board, release of a white paper on the `2,250 crore Altmin agreement, and ensuring that Singareni operates new coal blocks such as Naini and Tadicherla.