Hyderabad: Alleging that officers in state-run miner Singareni Collieries are harassing workers thinking that ‘Annalu ‘ (an informal term used to refer to Naxalites) are not around, TRS president K Kavitha on Tuesday, June 16, said that they are now in her party.
Kavitha, who visited a mine of Singareni at Srirampur in Mancherial district, asked why funds are not available for the welfare of workers when there is money to fulfil the needs of officers and contractors.
“In the past, because the Annalu were around, officers behaved somewhat properly with the workers. Now, thinking that they are gone, they are resorting to human rights violations. All those Annalu are now in our party,” a TRS release quoted her as saying.
The Telangana Rakshana Sena (TRS) would not tolerate if the human rights of workers are violated, she said.
The TRS would file cases against officials who harass workers, she said.
She alleged that the Singareni management is refusing to provide funds, no matter how small the hardship faced by the workers. The management has plenty of money to pay the contractors, she claimed.
She further alleged that the workers are forced to repair and reuse old machinery. They do not have proper safety equipment and are not provided with basic drinking water.
Claiming that attempts were made to stop her when she went near the mine on June 15 and on Tuesday, she asked whether Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi did not attend meetings at the mines when the party was in opposition in Telangana.
Union Coal Minister G Kishan Reddy must allocate more blocks to Singareni instead of allowing it to compete with private companies.
The Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) is a coal mining company jointly owned by the Government of Telangana and the Government of India on a 51:49 equity basis.
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