Indian power plants in the southern states may face fuel shortage as coal mining operations in the country’s largest Talcher Coalfields today faced undue and uncalled for stoppage by contractors’ workers leading to about 2.6 LT (lakh Tonne) coal dispatch loss.
Around 6,000 contractors’ workers in coal mining and transportation works went on a strike following the directions of local MLA, paralysing supplies to the consumers, which has a majority of power producers.
The strike was instigated after a meeting held on June 24 at Jagannath Area headquarters on the five-point agenda given by Narahari Sahoo, General Secretary, Mahanadi Coalfields Contractual Transport Workers Union (MCCTWU), Talcher.
The meeting, which was attended by Director (Personnel), MCL along with Area General Managers and other officials of Talcher Coalfields from the management side and the MLA, Talcher along with members of the MCCTWU, concluded on a happy note after the management agreed to all the points but one which was not legally feasible.
The management had not agreed on the demand of deployment of 131 contractors’ employees at (Railway) Sidings No. III & IV of Jagannath Area as the Siding operations are being carried out departmentally and there is no scope of reverting back to contractual mode of operations. This was discussed at the level of Chief Secretary in the past and MCL management had categorically expressed its inability to engage contractors’ workers as the siding was already operating departmentally.
However, the MCL management had agreed to the demands related to the welfare of contractors’ workers engaged in the company, like providing them medical treatment in company’s hospitals and dispensaries, skill development programmes run by Government of India, education for children of contractors’ workers in MCL-run DAV schools and enhanced rate of HPC (high power committee) wages to contractors’ workers.
The Record Note of Discussions (RND) of meeting, which ended were immediately prepared and circulated after the same was agreed by the MLA. However, the MLA later conveyed that RND of the meeting so drawn and circulated under the signatures of Area General Manager heading Talcher Coalfields was not acceptable, as it was not signed by the Director (Personnel) of the company himself.
On this ground, stoppage of all the contractual operation of mining/transportation of coal in all the Areas of Talcher Coalfields was resorted to.
The work stoppage today resulted in coal production loss of 2.3 LT and dispatch loss of 2.6 LT from Talcher Coalfields, which is likely have a negative impact on coal consumers, particularly power plants in southern states, including Odisha.
Besides, a day-long work stoppage resulted in estimated loss of revenue to the tune of INR 20.6 Crore to MCL, and consequently Odisha exchequer will suffer a loss of INR 14.67 Crore while the Central exchequer will undergo a loss of INR 1 Crore.
The company also suffered loss to the tune of 1.22 Lakh cubic meters over burden removal, which would a negative impact on coal production in future.
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