Kolkata, September 10: The All India Coal Workers Federation ( CITU) has issued the following statement:

All India Coal Workers Federation ( CITU) in it’s two day session held on 8-9 September 2012 at Raniganj, West Bengal decided to fight and resist the conspiracy to denationalize coal mining by the corporate – governance nexus through fishing in troubled water in the midst of exposure coal-gate scam which is a creation of their own and the controversy arisen therefrom in order to perpetuate a permanent loot on the national assets as well as on the working class and the people at the behest of private corporates, both domestic and foreign.

The Federation demanded immediate scrapping of all allocations of coal blocks to private hands and return of the same to Coal India Ltd. Concerned legislations enabling allocation of coal blocks to private corporates for so called captive purposes must also be scrapped in view of the stinking scams and perpetual loot of national resources for private and illegitimate gains by the private corporates and their mentors in the governance taking advantage of such ill-designed legislations. Coal India Ltd must be  strengthened further and be made the only nodal agency for coal mining in the country and all the coal resources in the country including future discoveries must be statutorily vested with Coal India Ltd.  Simultaneously all forms of outsourcing of coal production being done by Coal India must be totally banned.

The Federation called upon it’s affiliate unions and also the coal workers unions in general to go in for intensive campaign against the ongoing conspiracy to privatize coal mining in the country and hold massive demonstration before the headquarters of all the subsidiary companies on 1st October 2012. Further course of countrywide actions will be decided by the National Conference of All India Coal Workers Federation to be held on 28-30 November 2012 at Mython, Jharkhand. The Federation will also consult other unions in Coal industry for joint movement against the conspiracy of denationalization privatization.

Jibon Roy, National Secretary, CITU and General Secretary of All India Coal Workers Federation stated that conspiracy to denationalize and privatize coal resources of the country which were rescued from private hands and vested in State through Coal Mines Nationalisation Act 1973, has been attempted number of times earlier also by bringing Coal Mines Nationalisation (Amendment) Bill in Parliament. But on all the  occasions such attempts were foiled by the united and militant struggle by all the coal workers and by all the coal unions including serving notice for week-long strike action, which compelled the concerned Govt at the centre to shelve said Bill. Even the legislation providing for captive-mine allocation to power and cement industry was opposed by the coal trade unions and also by the Left parties in Parliament. And now such provision of allotting captive mines to private hands has landed the country to huge scam and illegitimate gains for private corporates, both domestic and foreign and a huge loss to country’s exchequer and also to Coal India. (Courtsey: Ganashakti)