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A late evening breakthrough in talks between the Centre and trade unions ended the coal workers’ strike that had threatened to hit power production in the country.
According to government sources, an agreement was being worked out and a committee has been set up to look into the grievances of the workers.
On the second day of the strike, coal production was hit but not seriously enough to disrupt the power sector.
All the five major coal unions, including the ruling-BJP backed Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), had called the five-day strike mainly in protest against the recent Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Ordinance that paves the way for opening the sector to competition as also other issues.
According to Coal India sources, on Tuesday, the production was 0.64 million tonnes, that is, just 42 per cent of CIL’s end December daily average of 1.5 mt. The despatch was 0.65 mt.
About 88 per cent of this output was from the Bilaspur-based South Eastern Coalfields (0.29 mt), with Ranchi-based Central Coalfields and Singrauli-based Northern Coalfields pitching in with 0.11 mt and 0.15 mt respectively. South Eastern Coalfields is the least affected CIL unit, with production remaining at around 75 per cent of the normal average.
At the end of the first shift on Wednesday, the trend remained more or less the same. However, there was a marginal drop in output following the complete stoppage of operations at the Dhanbad-based Bharat Coking Coal.
The had had little effect on the power sector. NTPC officials confirm that the pithead power plants of South Eastern Coalfields and Northern Coalfields are running at full capacity. The plants linked to mines in strike-hit Odisha had stocks for the next couple of days.
Production had come to a complete halt at Sambalpur-based Mahanadi Coalfields and the Nagpur-based Western Coalfields. Mahanadi Coalfields contributes approximately 23-24 per cent of CIL’s total annual production.
Earlier Opposition parties came out in support of the strikers. The Congress said that for the first time in history five lakh coal workers had decided to stop work protesting against the policies of the Centre.
“All trade unions, including the BJP-affiliated BMS, are supporting the strike. Will the BJP answer whether they seek votes from the corporates or from the BMS at the time of elections,” said Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi.
The CPI(M) said it was opposed to the ordinance that would pave the way for denationalisation of commercial coal mining.
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