Times of India reported that Chandrapur MP and BJP leader Mr Hansraj Ahir who has been campaigning against allotment of coal blocks to private parties by the Union coal ministry for long, has now demanded that 26 such mine blocks located in Vidarbha be cancelled immediately.

The BJP leader said Jaiswal's statement was misleading as WCL could not be allotted mines in other states that fell under areas of different subsidiaries of the Coal India Ltd.

He said "WCL is a profit making company. Though the mines under it have only 3.9% of reserves of all the mines of its parent CIL, it contributes over 12% of CIL's revenues. Already WCL has been cutting its staff strength from 82,000 at one time to 54,000 now. It is a major employer in Vidarbha and if its resaves get exhausted, a large number of people in this backward region will be rendered jobless.”

He said it was imperative that the government found ways for WCL's survival.

Mr Ahir said for this, the best way out was to cancel allocation of 26 captive mines given on a platter to private parties. These mines should be handed over to WCL.

Mr Ahir also questioned why the coal ministry, which was giving blocks to private companies, was denying them to CIL whose demand for 138 blocks was pending for the last five years.

Mr Ahir's demand has come a day after union coal minister Mr Shriprakash Jaiswal said here that there were no untapped coal reserves left in the state for WCL and it may have to look to other states for getting new mines.

Source - Times of India

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