Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao decided to increase the retirement age of Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) workers and employees from 58 years to 61 years. The Chief Minister instructed SCCL MD Sridhar to decide on the date for the implementation of the new retirement age in the board meeting to be held on July 26.
Based on the requests made by the Telangana Boggu Ghani Karmika Sangham and MLAs from the coal belt area for enhancement of the retirement age, the Chief Minister took the decision. The decision will benefit 43,899 workers, employees and officers of the SCCL.
The Chief Minister also decided to set up Singareni medical college in Ramagundam Assembly segment. Orders in this regard will be issued shortly. The CM took the decisions at a review meeting at Pragathi Bhavan with the public representatives on Singareni area issues.
The Chief Minister responded immediately to the request made by the MLAs that the affected in Singareni area were allotted plots by SCCL and handed over to the collectors and they should be distributed immediately. The Chief Minister directed the officials to implement it without any delay, as it would benefit 30,000 people.
In the Singareni opencast areas, coal mining, pollution caused by transportation, damage of the roads would emerge as severe issues. Against this backdrop, the Chief Minister instructed that fund created for the District Mineral Foundation Trust should now be given to the new districts, not the earlier combined districts. The Chief Minister made it clear that districts in Telangana state would mean 33 districts as notified and not earlier 10. He said funds for DMFT would be released for the constituencies under Adilabad, Mancherial, Pedapalli, Bhoopalapally, Kothagudem, and Khammam districts.
The income of SCCL, which was `12,000 crore before the state formation, is now `27,000 crore. The Chief Minister responded positively to the MLAs’ requests to give cash assistance to the poor to construct houses on their own plots, constructing houses in the place of houses built under Indiramma and NTR houses in the past.
He said he would discuss the matter and make a decision. The Chief Minister suggested to the coal belt MLAs to implement the state government’s scheme Dalita Bandhu to the eligible families. He said guidelines in this regard were being prepared.
