Kishan pledges to protect SCCL’s interests

Hyderabad: Union Minister of Coal and Mines, G Kishan Reddy, said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government at the Centre is as much responsible as the state government in protecting the interests of the Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) and its workers.

Speaking while responding to the issues on SCCL raised by the Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka, at the 10th round of launching commercial coal blocks auction in Hyderabad on Friday, he allyed the fears of the Centre working against the interest of the SCCL and its workers. Kishan Reddy said that he was aware of the situation of SCCL, and the issues raised by the Bhatti will be discussed with the ministry officials, SCCL and workers to find a solution in the best interest of the organisation.

However, first, he said he will take up the issue of the Naini coal block in Odisha allocated to the SCCL for which a notice was issued. “It will be taken in mission mode and will be holding talks with the government of Odisha to resolve the issue. So that, 50 per cent of the output from the Naini coal block would benefit the SCCL by putting it into production," he added.

He said that the coal block auctions have been brought a policy as a result of a Supreme Court judgement and guidelines. The Centre has brought a transparent system of open revenue sharing to increase coal production for economic growth. The States and the PSUs of the Centre and the State are earning more profits than the earlier allocation process of coal blocks, he added.

Kishan Reddy said that SCCL is a good entity, like Coal India Limited, and its production is more than many PSUs. However, the decision taken by the earlier government in the state has resulted in the production of it going down. However, steps would be taken to strengthen it by working with the State government, SSCL and the Centre for the best interests of it and its workers, he said.

Later, addressing the media, Kishan Reddy said that Congress blames the BJP, accusing it of being hand-in-glove with the BRS. BRS says that BJP is acting along with Congress, charging the Centre trying to privatise the SCCL. However, there is a need to work cutting across the party lines on the SCCL and its worker's interests, he added. “Early on, the coal blocks were allocated to the names written on a whitepaper at the Congress office. However, following the SC's judgement, the Centre has brought a new system backed with technology with transparency in auctioning coal blocks,” he informed.