Hyderabad: Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) will hold a public meeting Singareni Karmika Garjana’ in Ramagundam on October 14 highlighting the problems of Singareni workers, former minister T Harish Rao said.
He claimed that while workers received a 32% share in profits during the previous BRS govt, the share had subsequently declined. He said workers’ output had actually improved, with output per man-shift increasing from 6.39 tonnes to 7.56 tonnes, and argued that workers were putting in their best efforts. The BRS leader said it was due to administrative decisions, delayed tenders, contracting practices and what he described as corruption and favouritism.
Harish Rao alleged that the govt had failed to declare Singareni’s profits and announce the workers’ share ahead of the Dasara festival, which, he said, had been a customary practice. He alleged that Singareni had been facing serious problems since the Congress govt came to power and claimed that even employees and officials were being forced to stage protests. Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, after a meeting with representatives of the Telangana Boggu Gani Karmika Sangham (TBGKS) and elected representatives from Singareni areas at Telangana Bhavan, Harish Rao said the meeting would raise several demands, including payment of the workers’ full share in Singareni profits, conducting medical boards regularly and providing dependent jobs to eligible candidates, holding Singareni trade union elections immediately and clearing pending dues.
On workers’ housing rights, Harish Rao said the previous BRS government had issued GO 76 in 2019 to facilitate ownership rights for Singareni workers.
Harish Rao warned against any move to privatise Singareni and said the BRS was prepared to launch a direct agitation to protect the company and workers’ interests. He alleged that the Congress govt subsequently kept several properties in the prohibited list. He demanded that the remaining eligible workers be given ownership rights through sale deeds immediately.