HYDERABAD: Continuing his tirade against the BJP-led government at the Centre, IT minister K.T. Rama Rao on Monday accused the union government of hatching a conspiracy to privatise the Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) in Telangana.
"The Singareni Collieries is a big asset for Telangana. People of Telangana will give a befitting reply to the BJP for their move to privatise Singareni," Rama Rao said in a letter addressed to union coal minister Prahlad Joshi.
Rama Rao stated that the SCCL was not just a coal mine but a gold mine that was giving employment to thousands of youths in Telangana. Employees of SCCL and the people of Telangana would show their power in Delhi if the BJP continued its attempts to privatise the company. This agitation would be much bigger than the agitation staged against the three farm laws, he warned.
Rama Rao said the Telangana leaders would stand by the SCCL employees in this fight against the Centre. “The Centre is supposed to allocate coal mines to strengthen the SCCL which is running in profits. Instead, they are asking the company to take part in an auction for mines. This is nothing but creating hurdles for Telangana and its development,” Rama Rao said.
The SCCL was the only public sector undertaking in the country to contribute 29 per cent of the profits, he said. Privatisation of PSUs was a threat to the future of youth, especially Dalits and tribals. The people of Telangana would teach a lesson to the BJP if they did not stop this conspiracy, he said. Since the formation of Telangana, about 16,000 jobs had been created by the SCCL, he noted.
