Hyderabad | Oct 5, 2017: Voting began at 7 am on Thursday for the election for Singareni Collieries Company Limited’s (SCCL) recognised trade union. Over 50,000 employees of SCCL will cast their votes, as voting continues till 5 pm. Counting of votes will take place as soon as voting ends and the result is expected to be out by 9 pm.

The coal mines of SCCL are spread in six districts of Telangana. It had produced over 61 million tonnes of coal last year.

Voting is taking place at 92 polling booths set up across 11 areas in six districts of the coal belt. “As many as 52,534 employees are eligible to cast their votes. Polling will be held between 7 am and 5 pm tomorrow. The entire election process will be under the supervision of officials of the Union labour ministry. The counting of votes will be undertaken tomorrow evening,” an official said as quoted by news agency Press Trust of India. Fifteen trade unions are in fray.

Congress and TDP joined hands for the poll and some leaders of the two parties campaigned together. The election is witnessing a fierce contest between Telangana Boggu Ghani Karmika Sangham (TGBKS), affiliated to the ruling TRS, and All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), affiliated to CPI, supported by national trade unions such as Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) of Congress, Telugu Nadu Trade Union Council (TNTUC) of Telugu Desam Party, and Hind Mazdoor Sangh (HMS), Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) and Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU).

In a bid to woo voters, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had last week promised jobs to dependents of employees on “compassionate grounds”.

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