SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, March 22: The decision of the Coal Mines Provident Fund Organization (CMPFO) to write off investment of Rs 727.67 crores investment in Dewan Housing Finance Limited (DHFL) has triggered sharp protest from miners of the coal industry.
One of the frontal organizations of the miners, Akhil Bhartiya Khadan Mazdoor Sangh (ABKMS), an affiliated unit of Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), has termed it a major scam of the management and has called a nationwide demonstration on Wednesday (March 24) at CMPFO headquarters Dhanbad and at all regional offices across the country.
ABKMS general secretary Ramdhari said that writing off such a huge amount of investment in Dewan Housing Finance Limited (DHFL) is nothing but a major scam and against the interest of thousands of retired coalmen. “Miners are irked over the decision of the CMPFO Board as their contribution is deposited in CMPFO and the organization is already facing crisis of pension fund. Such a decision of the Board would plunge the CMPFO into deep trouble further”, said Ramdhari.
He said that the miners would never accept this decision at any cost. So, in the first phase, miners under the umbrella of the ABKMS would hold a demonstration at Dhanbad based CMPFO national headquarter and at all regional offices across the country on March 24. If the management does not withdraw the decision, in the second phase agitation would intensify.
The ABKMS general secretary said that writing off Rs 727.67 crores to Dewan Housing Financial Limited smells scam as CMPFO is already fund starved. “Since the CMPFO commissioner sits at Dhanbad based headquarters, the ABKMS would stir on a large scale here. If the management does not defer its decision, miners would intensify the agitation against the scam,” said Ramdhari.
Earlier on March 8, a five-member delegation comprising Lakshma Reddy, Sudhir Ghurrey, Mahendra Singh (working president of Khadan Federation), Ashok Mishra and Ashish Murthi had met coal minister Prahlad Joshi and demanded taking action after a CBI probe into the writing of Rs 727.67 crores to Dewan Housing Finance Limited by the management of CMPFO.
