Telangana Congress Legislature Party leader Bhatti Vikramarka on Wednesday alleged that nothing has changed for the people living in the Singareni coal belt even nine years after the formation of Telangana State.
He addressed a press conference at Bellampally, Mancherial district as part of his People’s March Haath Se Haath Jodo which entered its 14th day on Wednesday.
Bhatti Vikramarka recalled that during the Telangana movement, a slogan became quite popular in the Singareni coal mine areas which said ‘Coalbai, Mumbai or Dubai’. It meant that people of this region had the option of working as coal mines workers or migrating to Mumbai or Dubai to work as labourers. He said there were hopes that the situation would change after the formation of Telangana. However, the conditions worsened and now the locals also lost the option of ‘coalbai’ or working in Singareni Collieries.
The CLP leader highlighted the significant job reduction at Singareni, where employee numbers decreased from 1.05 lakh to 42,000, with local workers constituting 99% of the workforce. Consequently, BRS Government took away the jobs of 60,000 people working in Singareni Collieries. He said there were no fresh recruitments, but only retirements or appointments on dependent posts. He expressed concern about Singareni’s wealth being transferred to private companies. He also accused KCR of avoiding the Singareni elections due to fear of defeat. “Should we watch Singareni’s wealth fall into the hands of private individuals? Or should we protect our wealth?” questioned Bhatti Vikramarka speaking on KCR Sarkar’s neglect of Singareni.