Hyderabad: Siddipet MLA T Harish Rao slammed the Congress government for increasing this year’s bonus to Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) permanent employees only by Rs 20,000 as compared to last year’s bonus, despite the company making a profit of Rs 4,701 crore this year.

“For the financial year 2022-23, Singareni earned a profit of Rs 2,222 crore, from which 32%, approximately Rs 710 crore was distributed to the workers. However, for the year 2023-24, the company made a remarkable profit of Rs 4,701 crore. Based on the 33% share as announced by the government, workers were expected to receive around Rs 1,550 crore. Yet, the amount declared was only Rs 796 crores, which is merely 16.9% of the total profit,” Harish Rao observed, in a statement to media on Saturday.

He stated that though the Telangana government claimed a profit of Rs 4,701 crore, it has declared a 33% bonus on Rs 2,412 crore, conveniently “ignoring” the remaining Rs 2,289 crore.

“The BRS party strongly condemns the government’s decision to reduce the workers’ share of the profits by 50%. Despite the workers’ relentless efforts leading to record profits, the Congress government dashed their hopes of receiving a fair bonus. This raises a critical question: where has the remaining ₹754 crore that rightfully belong to the workers gone,” Harish Rao questioned.

“Despite their exceptional efforts, each worker is receiving just 20,000 more compared to previous year – a gross underestimation of their invaluable contribution,” Harish stated.

He said that in the undivided Andhra Pradesh from 2008-09 to 2010-11, Singareni workers received only 16% of the profits.

“In the very first year of Telangana’s formation (2014-15), CM KCR announced a 21% share of the profits for the workers, and by 2022-23, the share had been increased to 32%, giving due recognition and respect to the efforts of Singareni workers,” he underlined.

Harish Rao felt that the situation of contract workers was ‘equally disheartening’, with their numbers reduced and the bonus restricted to only 5,000 workers.

Harish Rao demanded the Congress government to rectify its injustice and ensure the Singareni workers received the fair share they deserved.