Mancherial: Singareni coal miners protest against govt over dip in bonus

Say government duped miners and workers of the SCCL by announcing a lower share of bonus than previous years

Mancherial: The Telangana Boggu Ghani Karmeeka Sangham (TBGKS) president Miryala Raji Reddy asserted that the State government cheated the workers of Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) by reducing the share of bonus for 2023-24 academic year.

He was speaking at a protest staged by coal miners against the government over the bonus by wearing black badges at an opencast project in Ramagundam Area on Monday.

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Reddy said that the government duped the miners and workers of the SCCL by announcing a lower share of bonus than previous years by setting aside half of the net profit earned by the coal major. He stated that it earmarked Rs 2,239 crore of the Rs 4,701 crore profits for expansions.

“No previous governments set profits of the SCCL aside in the history of the coal giant in the past. It is nothing short of exploitation of labour of staff and workers belonging to the coal major,” he remarked, demanding the government to announce the share of bonus on the net profits at the earliest.

The trade union leader said that the coal miners would burn effigies of the government on Tuesday, as part of the protest. They would stage a sit-in in front of the office of chief general managers and submit representations to the officers on September 25. They will gather signatures of the workers at worksites and send them to local MLAs on September 26.

He further said that the miners would lay siege to Singareni Bhavan in Hyderabad soon. Leaders of various TGBKS took part in similar protests staged in opencast projects and underground mines in Srirampur, Mandamarri, Goleti Areas of SCCL.