Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) President Capt. N. Uttam Kumar Reddy demanded that Chief Minster K. Chandrashekar Rao fulfil the election promise of continuing Dependent Employment Scheme (DES) in Sinagreni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL).
Accompanied with senior leaders including MLA T. Jeevan Reedy, ex-MP Ponnam Prabhakar, ex-minister D. Sridhar Babu, ex-Chief Whip Gandra Venkataramana Reddy and others, Uttam Kumar Reddy visited Godavarikhanion Thursday to interact with the SCCL workers who are on strike since June 15 demanding jobs for dependents. Expressing his solidarity with striking trade unions, Uttam Kumar Reddy said that ongoing strike was not for any ordinary reasons, but for the future of over 55,000 coal miners working with the SCCL and their children. He said Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao was never sincere in giving jobs to dependents of Sinagreni workers and therefore, he was unable to fulfil this major election promise even three years after winning elections.
Uttam Kumar Reddy also slammed KCR for not regularizing the contract workers in SCCL which he promised during elections. After winning 2014 polls, KCR took a U-turn and even claimed in the Legislative Assembly that there were no contract workers in the SCCL by openly cheating more than 25,000 contract workers of Singareni.
The TPCC chief also condemned the TRS Government for taking a U-turn on the issue of open cast mining. He said that KCR, during elections, had promised to ban open cast mining. However, he approved 16 open cast mines after coming to power in June 2014. Similarly, he said that the TRS Government has failed to fulfil the promise of constructing permanent houses for Sinagreni workers. He said nearly 60,000 workers who participated in Sakala Jana Samme during Telangana statehood agitation for 35 days were promised payment of wages for the strike period. However, he said while the money has been paid to those in service, nearly 10,000 workers who participated in the agitation, but retired later were denied payment.
Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the TRS Government has also failed to fulfil the promise of establishing a medical college and a NIMS-level super-specialty hospital for Singareni workers. The TPCC chief said that the Congress party would continue to support the SCCL workers and their agitation until State Government fulfils all their demands. Accused KCR of cheating the Sinagreni workers, he said the SCCL staff and their families in nearly 20 Assembly constituencies in coal belt have voted en bloc in favour of TRS in last elections. However, by cheating them, KCR himself has turned the Singareni belt against him and they would teach TRS a fitting lesson in next elections. (NSS)