SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, May 30: Pensioners of the coal industry have opposed the central government’s move of shifting the Coal Mines Provident Fund Organization (CMPFO) headquarters to Ranchi from Dhanbad.
Coal Pensioners Association (CPA) while protesting the decision of shifting the headquarters to Ranchi said that it would be an injustice to Dhanbad, which is called the coal capital of the country, where problems of the coal industry and coal employees are being solved for years. The members of the CPA said that they would be forced to launch an agitation to stop shifting from Dhanbad.
The CPA has also urged the MP, and MLAs of Dhanbad, especially BJP members, to stop the shifting to save the pride of Dhanbad by raising the issue with the central government.
Notably, the ministry of coal has decided to shift CMPFO headquarter to Ranchi and has appointed a Commissioner for Ranchi. Presently, the CMPFO commissioner sits at Dhanbad. The newly-appointed commissioner Vijay Kumar Mishra admitted to media persons that he has been appointed to the Ranchi office.
At present, the CMPFO camp office runs in Dharbhaga House at Ranchi but now, its own headquarters will be built in the Chutia area.
“It looks strange that CMPFO is not increasing the pension of retired coal employees in the name of financial crunch. However, on other hand, it is going to spend crores on the construction of a new headquarters office at Ranchi while it already has a well-established central office in Dhanbad,” said Ramanuj Prasad, president of Coal Pensioners Association.
Efforts for shifting CMPFO headquarters from Dhanbad have been going on for the last two years. First, Kolkata was selected for the purpose and even a tender was issued. But now, Ranchi has been selected and the ministry of coal has made a posting of commissioner at Ranchi rather than Dhanbad.
It is noteworthy that the ministry of coal has appointed a regular commissioner after five years. After the transfer of BK Panda in 2017, the post was under a caretaker.
“Dhanbad MP and four MLAs of the district belong to the central government ruling party. So, the CPA requests them to rope in the ministry of coal as well as the central government for shifting CMPFO headquarters from Dhanbad,” said Prasad.
Besides headquarters at Dhanbad, CMPFO has 19 regional offices functional across the country. At present, it settles PF, pension of over 5 lakhs coal employees and officers of the coal industry.
