HYDERABAD | May 03, 2017:

Leaders of various political parties have called for struggle opposing the privatisation of Tadicharla blocks in the Singareni coal mines, at an all-party round table meeting here on Tuesday.

Telangana Joint Action Committee Chairman M. Kodandram, who attended the meeting, said that the Singareni coal mines may be credited with ushering in a social revolution in North Telangana districts by offering an alternative employment opportunity to the oppressed sections.

The privatisation proposal needs to be stalled for the economic and social benefits of the region.

Communist Party of India State secretary Chada Venkat Reddy, who presided over the Round Table, said that the previous attempts towards privatisation of mines were successfully thwarted by people’s movements. He accused the chief minister K.Chandrasekhar Rao of assuming double standards with respect to Singareni.

Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee vice-president Mallu Ravi recalled that the former chief minister of joint state Y.S.Rajasekhar Reddy withdrew the proposal of privatisation after facing public backlash, while his counterpart in the Telangana State is going ahead with the same despite opposition.

N.V.V.S. Prabhakar from BJP questioned how the chief minister is resorting to privatisation of resources, while the Telangana movement he had led was based on ownership of resources.

Representatives from TDP, CPI(ML) New Democracy, Singareni Workers Union, CITU, INTUC, Vidyavanthula Vedika, AITUC, Telangana State Rythu Sangham, and others participated in the round table.

(Source: http://www.thehindu.com/)