Government Chief Whip and Kerala Congress leader P.C. George said here on Friday that while the public sector Kerala Minerals and Metals Ltd (KMML) had all the potential to become one of the major profit earners of the country, the happenings within the company were to the contrary. At a press conference here on Friday, he said the KMML was being converted into a gold mine for a few including a section of trade union leaders attached to the company.
He said while there was a 2004 government circular in force that no contracts pertaining to the KMML should be awarded to workers and staff of the company or their relatives, the same was defied by giving mining contract to one TVK Constructions owned by the father of one of the employees of the company in 2006.
He alleged that beyond scooping some top layer sand from the mining areas, the company did not engage in any serious mining work. The contract had ended in February this year and the mining areas are now lying idle. Yet the company was reluctant to regularize the 168 contract workers in spite of assurance in the connection given to them over the years.
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While calling upon the KMML management to regularise the workers, Mr. George said he had petitioned the Industries Minister P.K. Kunhalikutty in this connection and the response from the latter was very positive.