Mamata announces 15% hike for coal mine employees

The union minister for coal and mines, Mamata Banerjee who for the first time met the officials from Coal India and its subsidiary, along with its union leaders said that all employees of Coal India Ltd and its subsidiaries would be eligible for a 15 per cent interim relief with effect from January this year.

Her ministry would also take up the matter with the labour ministry so that miners working in IISCO and Tisco mines would also be eligible for the hike.

"Last time the employees got their interim relief was around two and half year ago, that was around 12 per cent on their basic, so we have decided to give them a 15 per cent interim relief this year," said Banerjee, while briefing the media after a marathon five hours meeting in the city today at the Coal India head quarters. There was however a rider to the hike.

"Workers will have withdraw the strike declared later this month only after which will they receive their relief," the minister explained.

She also said that her ministry along with the officials of BCCL, ECCL and CIL was working out a revival package for these two ailing companies. Officials from CIL said that the revival package was expected to be ready in six months time.

"We will be drawing a time bound revival package for BCCL and ECCL, in the next five to six months," said the official.

The minister also said that operations in all the 64 mines marked for closure will not be stopped and there would be no retrenchment in these mines and that revival packages for these mines were also being worked out.

Commenting on the reduction in import duty on coal, Mamata Banerjee said her ministry would discuss the matter with the finance ministry for bringing the duty to the earlier level so that the domestic coal industry was saved from competition from imported coal.

"Our coal have a lot of ash content and cannot compete with imported variety of coal, therefore we will request the finance ministry to roll back the reduction in duty," she explained.

She also demanded that central trade unions should assure better efficiency and productivity after modernisation of the mines and its machinery's which was underway.

Talking on the issue of setting up washery, she said that she has asked the trade unions along with the management to work out ways and means of setting up washery near coal mines that would also aid in increasing productivity.