CPI demands white paper on Singareni controversy

The CPI has urged the Congress government in Telangana to release a white paper on the Singareni Collieries controversy, citing growing unrest among workers. CPI MLA Kunamneni Sambasiva Rao alleged that the state owes the company Rs 56,000 crore.

Hyderabad: The CPI, an ally of the Congress government, has demanded that the State government address the growing discontent among workers and release a white paper on the controversy surrounding the Singareni Collieries Company Limited.

Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, CPI MLA Kunamneni Sambasiva Rao urged the government to initiate action against officials allegedly creating confusion by presenting incorrect figures on the company’s coal reserves. He further claimed that the State’s power utilities and the government together owed Singareni nearly Rs.56,000 crore in outstanding dues.

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Sambasiva Rao said the government’s contradictory stand had created uncertainty among employees. While it was projecting Singareni as a profit-making enterprise and announcing profit distribution, it was simultaneously planning to close mines and retrench workers on the grounds of financial losses, he alleged.

“The management of Singareni should be left to professional officials without political interference,” Sambasiva Rao stressed.