Hyderabad: Telangana BJP chief N Ramchander Rao has alleged that the Congress government is attempting to suppress the truth behind the disappearance of 45 lakh metric tonnes of coal from the Singareni Collieries Company (SCCL). He condemned the denial of police permission to a BJP delegation seeking to visit an SCCL mine to ascertain the facts surrounding the alleged coal scam.
Speaking to reporters at the party’s state office on the occasion of entrepreneur Phani Kumar joining the BJP, Rao alleged that Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy was spreading false propaganda against Union Minister G Kishan Reddy to conceal the alleged Singareni coal scam and prevent the truth from emerging. Phani Kumar is involved in mining, exports and waste-to-energy ventures.
Rao criticised the Revanth Reddy government for using the police to obstruct a BJP fact-finding team comprising the party’s floor leader, Maheshwar Reddy, MLAs and MLCs, which sought to investigate reports that nearly 45 lakh metric tonnes of coal had gone missing from Singareni Collieries mines.
Rao said that although the state government holds a 51% stake in Singareni and the Central government 49%, the Centre has no administrative or financial authority over appointments or transfers within the company. He said complete control rests with the state government and that, acting responsibly as Union Minister for Coal and Mines, Kishan Reddy had written to the CM seeking an inquiry into the alleged scam.
The BJP state chief also criticised the government’s decision to put up “No Admission” boards in government schools. He said that while the previous BRS government had neglected the education sector, the present Congress government is destroying the system. The education system had deteriorated because of the Revanth Reddy government’s negligence, he alleged.
He further alleged that the government was reducing the number of schools in the name of rationalisation and pushing many towards closure. Claiming that over 90% of government schools in the state were in a dilapidated condition, he said many lacked separate toilets for girls and other basic infrastructure. He also pointed out that, despite the academic year having begun, new textbooks have not been printed, and uniforms are yet to be provided.
