Subrat Kumar Sarangi
Bhubaneswar (NVI): Chairman-cum-Managing Director of Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL), an Odisha-based subsidiary of Coal India Limited, while seeking cooperation of employees, today appealed to the trade union leaders to re-consider the decision of resorting to strike.
The workers demands pertain to policy decisions beyond the purview of the company and reiterated that no coal block allotted to Mahanadi Coalfields is going to be auctioned.
“At present, MCL has 48 Coal Blocks having mineable resource of 29,100 MT, which can meet the requirement of thermal coal for another 100 years and another miscellaneous 22 projects are in pipeline, which includes washeries, coal gasification, solar power, CHP etc,” the CMD, B N Shukla said.
He also added in his appeal, that company aims at achieving coal production of 263 million tonne (MT) by 2023-24.
In the current financial year, MCL has been assigned with a target of 173 MTs of coal. However, “MCL, at present, is lagging behind in its production and overburden removal targets,” the CMD added, emphasising that any further stoppage of work will not be in the interest of company.
Even during the lockdown due to pandemic the production and dispatch continued at full pace. Shukla said, stoppage of work is never in our agenda and all our differences/ grievances are resolved in an atmosphere of mutual trust and co-operation.
He also appreciated the efforts of trade unions in motivating the employees to work for the nation during the lockdown.
Central trade unions/federations have served notices for resorting to a three-day-long-strike in Coal India and its subsidiaries from July 2, 2020, in support of their charter of demands.
However, this matter has been referred to Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner (C) of Bhubaneswar which has been seized under conciliation by Dy. CLC (C) Kolkata, Ministry of Labour & Employment, Government of India, as per the provisions of Industrial Disputes Act, 1947.
-CHK
