Coal unions warn of strike; oppose e-auction, commercial mining

NEW DELHI: Trade bodies representing around four lakh coal workers today said they oppose e-auction as well as the enabling provision in the proposed Ordinance for commercial mining by private players, and warned of a nation- wide strike if the Centre goes ahead with the changes.

The Cabinet yesterday recommended promulgation of an Ordinance to facilitate e-auction of coal blocks for private companies for captive use and allot mines directly to state and central PSUs besides having an enabling provision for future commercial use of mines.

General Secretary, All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) and senior Congress leader Gurudas Dasgupta said the government decision on coal blocks "has a covert implication. It is a backdoor entry for taking over the entire coal sector by the private corporates".

"We strongly protest and call upon the government to reverse the decision as there is an enabling clause in the Ordinance which gives rise to concerns and apprehensions of sweeping privatisation of coal sector," he added.

Coal is a vital national resource and allowing it to be handed over to private corporates would lead to "serious industrial disturbances", he said, adding that if privatised, "national interest will be jeopardised and CIL will be weakened".

All India Coal Workers Federation (AICWF) General Secretary Jibon Roy asserted that if the government implemented any enabling provision allowing commercial mining by private companies, the coal workers may proceed on a nationwide strike.

"To protest against the enabling provision and proposed e-auction, the workers would stage nationwide dharna on November 5 to 7," he said, demanding that the coal blocks should be handed over to Coal India.

The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) said the government's move to again reallocate most of those coal blocks to private entities through first round of e-auction is not at all a welcome decision.

Also unwelcome is the enabling provision in the proposed Ordinance for commercial mining by private entities in future, CITU President A K Padmanabhan and General Secretary Tapan Sen said in a statement.

Such enabling provision, if any, will open the door for denationalisation of coal sector, CITU said and added it condemns any move to nullify the Coal Nationalisation Act.

"The CITU opposes any move for denationalisation of coal industry and calls upon the workers and the trade union movement to unitedly resist such disastrous move of allowing commercial mining by private entities at the initiation stage itself. The CITU also urges Government to reconsider its decision to auction those coal blocks again to private entities and instead vest all of them to Coal India," it said.

The Cabinet yesterday had recommended promulgation of an Ordinance to resolve issues after the Supreme Court last month quashed allocation of 214 coal blocks to various companies from 1993 to 2010.