Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Friday announced that the state government will come up with a modified version of the “hereditary employees scheme” for the underground coal mine workers of the Singareni Collieries Company.
Nearly five months after the Supreme Court had struck down the scheme — in which a family member gets the job in place of an existing employee who is too sick to work — the Chief Minister said that the court had delivered the judgement as the term of “dependent employee” was used in the legislation.
“Now we have taken the legal opinion. Accordingly we will come up with compassionate employment for a family member of an existing sick employee”.
He announced that a medical board will be constituted, which after examination will decide whether an existing employee is unfit to carry on with his underground mining work. If he is found unfit then one member of his family will succeed him in the job. “This will benefit more than 80 per cent workers of Singareni”, the Chief Minister told a press conference on Friday.
He made the announcement ahead of the elections to the Singareni Trade Union, in which TRS affiliate Telangana Biggula Karmika Sangram was pitted against the organisations affiliated to Congress, Telugu Desam and left parties. Elections are slated for October 5.
Nearly 100,000 people are employed with the public sector Singareni Collieries Company Ltd.
Rao blamed the problems of Singareni workers on the national trade union organisations that blocked the dependent employees scheme by going to the courts. “There are gangs who are working to obstructs all such schemes and projects by securing stay orders from the courts. One gang filed 17 petitions against the scheme. Another gang filed petitions against the irrigation projects. These gangs also have lawyers to help them”, he said.
He said that necessary rules and regulations will be amended by the company to provide employment on compassionate grounds. “This will apply only to the underground mining workers and not to the other jobs”, KCR said.
In case the scheme does not apply to a miner, or he doesn’t want the job for his family member, he can get a lump sum amount of Rs2.5 million (Dh140,517) as benefit.
“Such a scheme is needed because the problems and conditions of the coal miners are different from other jobs. They are in such a pathetic condition that no miner survives for more than 10 years after retirement”, he said.
KCR also announced that every Singareni Worker will get Rs600,000 housing loan without interest.
