CPI (M) activists protest Centre’s move to auction Sravanapalli coal block

CPI (M) activists protest Centre’s move to auction Sravanapalli coal block

CPI (M) activists took to the streets in Khammam on Friday to protest the BJP-led Central government’s move to auction coal blocks in various states, including Telangana, for commercial mining.

Vehemently opposing the Centre’s decision to auction the Sravanapalli coal block in Mancherial district, the CPI (M) cadre staged a protest in Khammam demanding allocation of Sravanapalli and other coal blocks in the State’s coal belt to Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL).

Addressing the demonstration, CPI (M) district secretary Nunna Nageswara Rao alleged that the Centre’s move is tantamount to clandestinely weaken the SCCL, the sole government coal company in South India, by depriving it of coal blocks and allow private companies to exploit the mineral wealth.

This would weaken the SCCL, Telangana’s lifeline and the biggest employer, thereby jeopardising the interests of the workforce, he alleged. It is ironic that Union Coal Minister G. Kishan Reddy himself launched the 10th tranche of commercial coal mines auction in Hyderabad last week, a move that will prove detrimental to the interests of the SCCL, Mr. Rao charged.

He demanded the State government to convene an all-party meeting to mount pressure on the Centre for allocation of coal blocks in Telangana to SCCL directly without auction. A resolution should be passed in the State Assembly to this effect, he said, warning of a mass agitation over the issue.