An all-party round table conference took place here on Tuesday against the Centre's decision of privatising 50 coal blocks of Singareni Collieries along with one thousand crore loan assistance from the government to the contractor, according to CPI leader Chada Venkat Reddy.
Reddy told , "While the central and state governments do not invest a single rupee in the budget, Coal India and the syndicate company pays tens of crores of rupees each year to the state, in the form of royalty, income tax and so on. The central government announced that 50 coal blocks will be privatised. This announcement was made along with the 20 lakh crore stimulus package."
"The Telangana government has not declared its stance on the matter. The state government should urge the Centre to withdraw the decision on coal mining immediately. Five national trade unions, the AITUC, INTUC, CITU, HMS, and BMS, have called for agitation against the privatisation of coal blocks by June 10 or 11," he added.
Reddy said that the Singareni Collieries were established in 1943 under the Nizam Nawab's administration in Telangana. The company has been expanded to Puthiyugudem (Ramagundam), Godavarikh, Mandamarri, Srirampur, Bellampalli, and Bhupalapalli.
Congress MLA Bhatti Vikramarka said, "On the disguise of helping, the government is trying to privatise the whole block and give it to a few corporate heads, which is very dangerous to the country. This is being done in the name of announcing an economic stimulus package. We will definitely fight to retain it for the country and not let it be handed over to corporates."
( With inputs from ANI )