CIL unions on 'work-to-rule' against stake sale

Central trade unions have reiterated their demand to return back the coal blocks to the company

Five major trade bodies of CIL today served a joint two-day 'work-to-rule' ultimatum on the coal major seeking retrieval of mines from private companies, and to protest any further disinvestment in it.

"Recently the Supreme Court has decided allocation of coal blocks to the private as well as state/central public sectors since 1993 as illegal. Five CTUs had been consistently demanding to stop/retrieve back coal blocks allotted for captive use to private parties. We reiterate and demand to return back the coal blocks to CIL," central trade unions (CTUs) said in a joint notice to Secretary, Coal.

The CTUs - Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS), Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), AICWF and All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) - which represent CIL workers, said they would resort to work to rule from September 18 to 20 and would decide the future strategy on September 21 if their demands including immediate stop on any further disinvestment in CIL is not met.

The charter of demands also include scrapping "Coal Videsh" and preventing any move to acquire overseas mines by it so that the money can be utilised in coal projects in India which in turn would generate employment.

Their demands also included infrastructure status to coal with budgetary support.

The Supreme Court on August 25 said that all coal block allocations made from 1993 to 2010 before pre-auction era during previous NDA and UPA regimes have been done in an illegal manner by an "ad-hoc and casual" approach "without application of mind".

The apex court, which had examined the allocation of 218 blocks, said: "Common good and public interest have, thus, suffered heavily" as "there was no fair and transparent procedure, all resulting in unfair distribution of the national wealth."

Meanwhile the government is likely to soon approve disinvestment of CIL which may fetch the exchequer Rs 22,000 crore.

The proposal for 10 per cent disinvestment of CIL is likely to be taken up by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) in its next meeting.

A planned stake sale in CIL in the last financial year had to be deferred after stiff opposition from the trade unions. The coal major had to make up for that by paying about Rs 19,000 crore as dividend to the exchequer.