‘Centre playing dirty politics over SCCL’

TRS (now BRS) charged the BJP-led union govt of playing dirty politics to weaken the Singareni Collieries Company Limited in the State.

Hyderabad: The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (now Bharat Rashtra Samithi) on Wednesday charged the BJP-led union government of playing dirty politics to weaken the Singareni Collieries Company Limited in the State. The Centre, while claiming that there were no plans to privatise the SCCL, was making all efforts to push the company into losses without allocating fresh coal blocks and also selling off four coal blocks, the party MPs said.

“During his visit to Ramagundam, Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured that the SCCL would not be privatised. But new coal blocks are not being allocated with ulterior motives, despite repeated requests from the State government,” TRS Lok Sabha floor leader Nama Nageshwara Rao said. He pointed out that in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, the union government admitted that it was auctioning the four coal blocks, in sharp contrast to the assurance given by the Prime Minister.

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While speaking to the media in Delhi on Wednesday, Nageshwara Rao along with other TRS MPs, demanded that the union government should cancel the auction of the four coal blocks in Telangana and allot them to the Singareni company. He demanded to know how Singareni would survive without allocation of new coal mines. He strongly condemned the Centre’s discrimination towards Telangana and injustice being meted out on all fronts. He also stated that if the Centre was keen to sell its 49 per cent stake in the SCCL, the Telangana government would procure the same.

He stated that the TRS (BRS) would raise the people’s issues including discrimination towards the State, non-implementation of the promises made under Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, cuts imposed on funds and the delay in release of pending funds in the Parliament during the ongoing session.