‘Centre discriminating against Telangana’

Party leaders say coal blocks’ auction stopped in Odisha, Jharkhand

TRS leaders (from R to L) A. Jeevan Reddy, B. Suman and Y. Mallesham speaking at the party office in Hyderabad on Saturday.

Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Government at the Centre of discriminating against Telangana in the matter of coal blocks’ privatisation, irrigation projects and highways. After causing agony to the farming community, it is now targeting the Singareni Collieries workers.

Government Whip Balka Suman, Public Undertakings Committee Chairman A. Jeevan Reddy and MLC Egge Mallesham said here on Saturday that after pushing the farming community intro distress with new farm laws and with its approach on the procurement of paddy, the Centre was now trying to privatise Singareni coal mines although Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL) was in profits.

They stated that the TRS had supported the coal miners strike in Singareni and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao wrote to the Prime Minister with a request not to auction coal blocks in Singareni area keeping in mind the future of workers and SCCL. However, there was no response from the Centre.

Addressing a press conference, they pointed out that the task of extracting coal reserves in Gujarat was handed over to a State Government agency and Coal India Ltd since there was BJP Government in that State. Similarly, the BJP leaders in Odisha and Jharkhand had got the process of fresh auction of coal blocks stopped there. However, in case of Telangana the Centre was acting with a vengeance.

After causing distress to farmers in the matter of paddy procurement, the Centre was trying to unsettle the Singareni workers and a conspiracy was in the making to hand over the coal blocks in Telangana to Adani group, the TRS leaders alleged. The BJP-led Centre was trying to cripple every economic sector of Telangana in a planned manner and the Telangana society was observing it.

They further alleged that the Centre was heaping injustice on Telangana in the matter of irrigation projects and highways. It was denying national project status to Palamuru-Rangareddy lift irrigation scheme and delaying clearance to several other projects.