KHAMMAM: Thousands of workers of the Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) laid siege to the company’s head office in Kothagudem on Monday protesting against the Central government’s decision to privatise the public sector company and the alleged looting of the company by the State government.
The protest was organised under the aegis of Singareni Collieries Employees Union. Addressing the gathering, workers’ union president K Sambasiva Rao and general secretary Vasireddy Seetaramaiah alleged that the State government was planning to bankrupt the public sector company.
They questioned Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao as to what he was doing to help out the SCCL workers. They questioned the CM on the assurances he had given including the construction of houses for the workers and launch of 25 new underground mines. The CM had assured to regularise all contract workers and also exempt the miners from the payment of income tax.
The alleged that KCR was planning to hand over the coal belt area to Adani and Ambani while the SCCL chairman and MD were helping KCR. CPI district secretary SK Sabir Pasha demanded that the government give 35% share in company profits to its employees as it earlier announced.