E-Paper
Row over conduct of trade union elections in Singareni coal mines
As per the notification issued by CDLC the Singareni Collieries trade union polls will be held on October 28
The decision of the central labour department to conduct the elections to the recognised trade union of the Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL), one of the largest coal mining companies in the country, has met with strong resistance from the Telangana government and the company management, officials familiar with the matter said on Saturday.
Central deputy labour commissioner (CDLC) D Srinivasulu, who is also the returning officer for the elections, on September 28 issued a notification to conduct elections for the recognised union of the Singareni Collieries.
As per the notification, the nomination process will begin on October 6 and the last date of withdrawal of nominations is October 9. Symbol allocation will be done on October 10 and the polling is scheduled to be held on October 28.
The CLDC issued the notification a day after convening a meeting of representatives of all labour unions of the Singareni and the company management. However, as many as 15 out of 17 unions of the coal mines, besides the Singareni management representatives, skipped the meeting.
The Singareni management expressed helplessness in conducting the elections at this stage, as the police and district officials would be busy with the preparations for the upcoming assembly elections in the state, officials familiar with the matter said. “There are indications that the schedule for the assembly elections in Telangana may be announced in the first week of October. The entire police forces and the district administrations would be busy with the poll preparations. So, it may not be possible to hold elections to the Singareni workers’ union, in which around 42,000 coal mine workers and employees have to cast their votes,” a senior official of the Singareni Collieries said.
Even major trade unions, including Telangana Boggu Ghani Karmika Sangham (TBGKS) affiliated to the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) affiliated to the Congress, are not keen on conducting the elections now because the election results might impact the outcome of the assembly elections in the coal belt areas.
“We requested the central labour department to defer the Singareni elections till the completion of assembly elections. Yet, the CLDC chose to issue the notification to conduct elections to the Singareni trade union,” TGBKS general secretary Miryala Raji Reddy said.
The CDLC, however, clarified to the Singareni management that the central labour department had issued notification as per the directions of the Telangana high court. On September 25, the high court, while hearing a petition of the Singareni Coal Mine Workers’ Union, delivered its judgment saying that the elections to the trade union should be held before October 30.
The high court agreed with the contention of the petitioner that the elections were due to be held in 2019 itself but had been postponed several times since then. “So, the elections have to be held at any cost before October 30,” the court said.
“In the interest of the company’s employees, we have asked the management to appeal before the high court division bench, challenging the election notification for Singareni trade union elections,” Raji Reddy said, adding that a review petition would be filed next week.
The Singareni Coal Mine Workers’ Union, affiliated to the Communist Party of India (Marxist), and the Singareni Coal Mines Karmika Sangh, affiliated to the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) of the Bharatiya Janata Parfty (BJP), however, are insisting that elections should be held before the deadline fixed by the high court.
The Singareni Collieries, spread over Asifabad, Mancherial, Peddapalli, Bhupalapally, Kothagudem and Khammam districts, covers as many as 13 assembly constituencies. So, the outcome of the trade union elections in the coal belt will definitely have an impact on the prospects of the political parties to which the unions are affiliated.
In 2017, when the elections to trade unions of the Singareni Collieries were held last time, the TBGKS headed by chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s daughter and BRS lawmaker K Kavitha emerged victorious by wining nine out of 11 coal mine divisions.
These elections had an impact on the assembly elections held in December 2018 and the BRS (then Telangana Rashtra Samithi) had won all the 13 assembly seats in the coal belt areas.
