Kavitha wants white paper on Singareni; smells graft in deals

Hyderabad: Alleging that Singareni Collieries is being destroyed by the incompetence of the Congress government and raising questions over deals worth Rs 13,000 crore, Telangana Jagruthi President Kalvakuntla Kavitha has demanded a formal inquiry and a white paper on SCCL.

Kavitha issued a stern warning to the administration, stating that if it interferes with the recruitment of dependent workers in Singareni, it will face serious consequences. She was speaking at the Save Singareni round-table meeting held at the Telangana Jagruthi office in Banjara Hills on Sunday.

She expressed strong anger over the recent statement by Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka regarding vigilance and ACB inquiries into worker recruitments. Challenging the government, she asked if they were ready to order an inquiry into their own corruption instead of targeting the jobs of workers.

Kavitha alleged that since corruption in the Naini coal block was exposed, Bhatti Vikramarka has developed resentment toward Singareni workers. She accused the government of initiating inquiry proceedings as a political vendetta, calling it a drama aimed at settling scores. 

She pointed out that the previous government provided jobs to around 20,000 workers to compensate for past injustices and questioned how an inquiry could be ordered on policies implemented by a prior administration. 

The Congress government lacks emotion and commitment toward Singareni, which is the lifeline of the state, she claimed. Kavitha further alleged a series of irregularities, stating that Singareni entered a Rs 11,000 crore agreement with the Rajasthan government for solar power at nearly three times the actual cost per megawatt. 

She also alleged that a Rs 2,250 crore agreement was signed with a small company, Altmin, for a lithium refinery project. 

Questioning the legitimacy of this deal, she asked how a firm with revenues as low as Rs 27 lakh could be entrusted with such a massive contract.

Kavitha asserted that both agreements are riddled with blatant corruption and demanded that the state government immediately release a white paper to ensure transparency for the public.