4 months ago
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Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL), the 140-year-old State Public Sector Undertaking successful Telangana has been successful quality for each incorrect reasons successful the caller weeks, with the Opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and the ruling Congress sparring implicit alleged irregularities successful tenders for removal of overburden (the furniture of soil, rock, and ecosystem that lies supra a ember seam) successful the ember mines.
The ruling enactment has been forced connected the backmost ft by the BRS, with the ruling enactment lacking punch successful its rebuttal. The BRS has alleged that the tender norms were framed successful favour of Congress bigwigs and their kin, helping them marque casual wealth and causing nonaccomplishment to the company.
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Buoyed by the encouraging results successful the Gram Panchayat elections held successful December past year, the BRS has added a pinch of aggression successful targeting the ruling party. The Congress claimed that candidates backed by it won astir 60% of the 12,733 Sarpanch posts, which is seen by the Opposition arsenic an underperformance for a ruling party. The BRS claimed implicit 40% occurrence complaint successful the Gram Panchayat polls held connected non-party basis. The BRS has sharpened its onslaught connected the Congress astatine each fixed accidental successful a bid to consolidate its presumption further successful the upcoming predetermination to municipality section bodies (ULB), which is fought connected enactment symbols.
The enactment implicit the Singareni tenders erupted erstwhile elder BRS person and erstwhile Minister T. Harish Rao piled the allegations of irregularities connected January 19. The BRS’s main people successful the substance is not Deputy Chief Minister M. Bhatti Vikramarka, who handles the portfolio of Energy nether which the SCCL operates. Rather, it is Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy. The enactment says the Chief Minister got the ‘site sojourn certification’ strategy introduced successful the tenders with a presumption to favour his brother-in-law (wife’s brother) S. Srujan Reddy’s companies, with bids quoted astatine a worth overmuch higher than the estimates prepared by the company.
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Soon aft the BRS raised the allegations, Mr. Harish Rao and enactment moving president K.T. Rama Rao received notices from the peculiar probe squad (SIT) successful the phone-tapping case, asking them to look earlier it for introspection arsenic witnesses. The Opposition enactment wasted nary clip successful playing the unfortunate card, alleging that the leaders were served notices arsenic portion of the ruling party’s plans to harass them for making ‘the scam’ public. As if to bolster its claim, different enactment person and erstwhile elder constabulary serviceman R.S. Praveen Kumar excessively received a announcement from the SIT successful the aforesaid case, a time aft helium questioned the morality of the SIT main holding the position.
In a vain bid, Deputy Chief Minister Vikramarka tried to rebut the allegations, stating that the norm/condition of tract sojourn certification was successful signifier successful galore Central PSUs, Departments and PSUs of different States and that successful SCCL too, it was introduced successful 2018 erstwhile the BRS was successful power. He besides work retired immoderate documents which enforce the tract sojourn information arsenic an effort to crook the tables connected the Opposition party. However, the BRS took it arsenic different accidental to country the ruling party.
“The Deputy CM excessively appears to person taken a cue from the Chief Minister who had conveniently work retired portions of irrigation documents to suit/support his statement successful the Assembly connected much than 1 occasion. Mr. Vikramarka work retired lone the portions that were convenient for him to bash immoderate mudslinging connected the Opposition and did nottell radical the information that the tract sojourn information introduced by SCCL erstwhile the BRS was successful powerfulness was lone for establishing ember handling plants (CHPs) and not for the overburden removal contracts,” Mr. Harish Rao said. He stated that immoderate of the examples of tract sojourn information for tenders cited by Mr. Vikramarka were unusual as, for instance, the Ministry of Defence’s tenders were for proviso of washing machines and dryers for Sainik Schools.
The BRS claims the tract sojourn information for overburden removal contracts was introduced arsenic precocious arsenic May 2025 and immoderate of the tenders finalised till that clip from December 2023, erstwhile the Congress assumed office, were arsenic per the aged procedures without the tract sojourn condition. Those tenders were locked for little values/rates than the estimates prepared by SCCL, redeeming wealth for the company, it says.
The BRS is of the presumption that each the overburden removal contracts fixed aft May 2025 merit cancellation connected the aforesaid grounds connected which the Naini excavation improvement and cognition (MDO) contract, which excessively had the information of tract visit, was cancelled. The enactment has demanded a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) oregon immoderate different Central bureau oregon a sitting justice into the Singareni contracts, saying that a probe by a State bureau would beryllium unfair since the Chief Minister’s kin are the main beneficiaries.
It remains to beryllium seen whether the authorities orders a probe into each the overburden removal contracts since June 2014, erstwhile the State of Telangana was formed, arsenic it did successful cases specified arsenic sinking of a information of the Medigadda Barrage of Kaleshwaram project, powerfulness acquisition from Chhattisgarh and execution of Yadadri Thermal Power Station, which is inactive successful progress, to wide itself of the charges and hole the BRS alternatively by bringing retired its misdeeds, if any.
