Govt to introduce bill replacing coal ordinance, Coal minister to meet unions tomorrow

The govt also plans 10% stake sale in CIL, which is expected to fetch the exchequer about Rs 23,000 cr

Ahead of the government’s move to introduce a Bill in Parliament seeking to replace coal blocks allocation ordinance later in the week, Union Coal And Power Minister Piyush Goyal would meet central trade unions on Tuesday in an effort to bring Coal India (CIL) workers on board.

The Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Ordinance, 2014, was brought in October this year in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision cancelling 214 coal blocks. Apart from facilitating auctioning of the cancelled coal blocks, the ordinance allows private players to mine coal and sell it in the open market, which has been particularly opposed by the unions. So far, the right to commercial mining was reserved for Coal India.

Five unions — Citu-led All-India Coal Workers Federation (AICWF), Indian Mine Workers' Federation (affiliated to AITUC), Congress-backed Indian National Mine Workers Federation (INMFW), Hind Khadan Mazdoor Federation (affiliated to HMS) and Bharatiya Janata Party-backed Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) — have been unanimously opposing the move.

"We will attend the meeting tomorrow (Tuesday). But we are not changing our stand. If the government goes ahead passing this Bill in Parliament, we would resort to strike," Jibon Roy, general secretary, All India Coal Workers Federation, said.

However, other unions did not say anything about the strike call. "We will take a call after the meeting with coal minister," the coal union president of BMS, Surinder Kumar Pandey, said.

Apart from the ordinance, the government's plan of 10 per cent stake sale in CIL, which is expected to fetch the exchequer about Rs 23,000 crore is being opposed by the unions since last one year.

The government has already initiated its disinvestment programme for the current financial year with five per sent stake sale in Steel Authority of India (SAIL).