Hyderabad: In a Dussera bonanza, workers of the state-run Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) in Telangana would get a bonus of Rs 1.01 lakh each this year with the coal miner clocking a record profit of Rs 1,765 crore In 2018-19, the state government announced on Thursday.
Making a statement in the assembly, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao credited the workers for SCCL's growth in the last five years and said they have been putting their lives at risk in creating national wealth which was in no way 'inferior' to the role played by armed forces on the borders.
The bonus was given by the state government to the SCCL workers and employees as Dussera festival's gift, he said adding this year's quantum marked an increase of over Rs 40,000 given in the previous year.
"This year, I am happy to announce we are increasing the percentage of profit share by another one per cent to 28 per cent. By increasing the share in profits, each worker will now get Rs 1,00,899 as a bonus; this is Rs 40,530 more than the last year's bonus," he said.
The company has a workforce of about 48,000.
Noting that the mining company was playing a very crucial role in the development of Telangana, Rao said the government was of the firm opinion that the key role played by workers often keeping their lives at stake was important in the SCCL's continued success.
"Our government feels that the sweat that each and every SCCL worker shed in creating the national wealth, often coming out of jaws of death, is no way inferior to the sacrifices of our own army personnel fighting at the borders," he said.
Precisely for this reason, the state government had always been taking measures for the welfare of the SCCL workers the Chief Minister said.
"From a 'meagre' Rs 13,540 in 2013-14, the last year in undivided Andhra Pradesh, the bonus had been increased gradually in the last five years since Telangana came into being and the workers were paid Rs 60,369 in 2017-18, representing 27 per cent of the profit," Rao said.
The SCCL produced 50.47 million tonnes of coal in 2013-14. The production has been on the increase every year in the last five years, he said.
In 2018-19, the coal production went up to an all-time high 64.41 million tonnes and the company registered a record profit of Rs 1,765 crore, he added.
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