Telangana Boggu Ghani Karmika Sangham (TGBKS) founder president Kengarla Mallaiah, who had joined the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) recently, was unanimously elected State president of the Singareni Coalmines Karmika Sangh affiliated to BMS.
At the trade union’s 26th maha sabha conducted in Kothagudem on Sunday, Mr. Mallaiah was elected president. He is known for his trade union activism and strengthening of the union from the grass-root level as was evident from the growth of TGBKS during his regime in the Singareni Collieries.
Talking to The Hindu over phone, Mr. Mallaiah said that the Singareni Coalmines Karmika Sangh (BMS) would emerge victorious in the ensuing trade union elections of the Singareni Collieries. Stating that the Central Labour Commissioner would soon direct the Singareni Collieries to initiate steps for the conduct of elections to the recognised trade union of Singareni, he said that the State government cannot stop the trade union elections in Singareni.
The Singareni was paying ₹ 3,400 crore to the State government as royalty and Sales Tax every year, he pointed out and demanded the State government to fulfil the promise of reimbursement of Income Tax of the Singareni employees. Reminding that the State government had passed a resolution in the Assembly favouring waiver of Income Tax to the coal miners, he said that they were not seeking waiver of IT but asking the government to reimburse the amount from the royalty and Sales Tax paid by Singareni.
Alleging that the TGBKS affiliated to TRS had failed to fulfil the promises made to the coal miners during the 2017 elections, he said that the regularisation of proxy coal miners was not fulfilled by the TRS government and the promise of setting up super speciality hospital in all the regions remained a distant dream. He even alleged that the revival of dependent employment scheme still remained a mirage.
Reiterating that the Singareni Coalmines Karmika Sangh would strive for the workers’ welfare and their safety, he said that they would oppose privatisation of the Singareni and strive for more employment to the locals in the coal mines. He also said that they would take up the ‘own your house scheme’ slogan during the elections and ensure that the coal miners were allocated house sites for a decent living.
