TRS Will Ditch Singareni Workers: Congress, Kodandaram

Congress deputy leader in the Telangana Legislative Council Ponguleti Sudhakar Reddy said that the ruling TRS would not fulfill its assurances if its union, TGBKS, was elected in the Singareni Collieries union elections to be held on October 5.

Speaking to the media on the Assembly premises on Sunday, Ponguleti said that the state government had promised to construct quarters for the workers, but that there was no mention of the issue by it now. He also alleged that the government was diverting CSR funds to the Siddipet and Sircilla Assembly constituencies, and that the Singareni workers were facing respiratory problems due to heavy pollution.

He also pointed out that the state government, which had stated that it would transform Singareni into gold, was trying to privatize it now, and had already started moves to privatize the Tadicherla Block 2 mine, he said. He promised that he would raise the issue in the Assembly.

These were just a few examples of how the TRS was highly unreliable, he said. The party would make any promises and do anything to win the elections, he said. He pointed out how liquor and money were flowing among the Singareni employees against the election rules. He urged the Singareni workers to ensure the victory of the candidates contesting on the star symbol, saying that the Singareni workers would get justice only if the Opposition parties won the elections.

Telangana JAC chairman M Kodandaram, too, gave a call to the Singareni workers to defeat the TGBKS in the elections. Kodandaram said that the state government was not in favor of hereditary jobs, and that the Singareni management had not yet issued amended orders in regard to hereditary jobs. He, too, alleged that the government was planning to privatize Singareni in the future.