Cong govt colluded with Sigachi to deny compensation to 54 families: Harish

Former minister T Harish Rao accused the Congress Party government of underpaying compensation to Sigachi Industries blast victims, alleging safety violations, delayed justice, and failure to fulfill ₹1 crore promise to affected families nearly a year later

Siddipet: Former Minister T Harish Rao lashed out at the Congress government for cheating the victims of Sigachi blast by colluding with the management of Sigachi Industries.

In his post on X on Friday, Harish Rao said Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and District Minister Damodara Rajanarasimha promised one crore compensation to each of the 54 persons killed in the biggest industrial blast ever reported in Telangana.

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The duo visited the Pashamylaram industrial area in Patancheru hours after the blast on June 30, 2025. Even nearly one year after the blast, the former minister said that the management had just given Rs 45.40 lakh to each and every family on an average.

He said that the payment of Rs 54.30 lakh was still pending to each family. Though the management claimed that they paid Rs 40 to Rs 42 lakhs to each of the deceased person’s family, Rao said that they hardly paid Rs 25 lakh. He said that the management had combined PF, ESI and insurance benefits, which is actually paid from the employees own money, in the payment list.

The former minister termed it as cheating the victims even though they served in the industry for years contributing to its growth. Even though the committee constituted by the government had found gross violations in safety measures, Rao said that the government had failed to take any action on the management. He termed the incident as a social murder committed by Sigachi management.

Rao demanded that Revanth Reddy keep his promises by getting one crore compensation by excluding PF, ESI and insurance benefits from the list without any further delay. Otherwise, Rao asked the government to attach the Sigachi’s assets following the revenue act to recover the compensation promised.

Stating that the government failed to arrest the management, Rao said the police arrested the MD following the directions of the High Court. However, he said that the MD walked out free on bail within no time. The former minister lamented that the government made the eight families, whose bodies remained untraced after the blast, roam around offices for days to get birth certificates.