The Government on Wednesday introduced in the lok Sabha, a bill seeking to replace the coal blocks allocation ordinance that unveiled the NDA Government's ambitious coal sector reforms.
The Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill 2014 was introduced by Coal Minister Piyush Goyal, who insisted that the bill did not seek de-nationalisation of coal mines. The bill was opposed at the admission stage itself by Saugata Roy (TMC) who said it was aimed at de-nationalisation of coal mines, which were nationalised way back in 1973.
Supported by the left parties, he said the legislation nullified the Coal Mines Nationalisation Act of 1973 and allowed "total exploitation" of the mines and the people of the country. The Minister said the bill had been brought in the wake of the Supreme Court decision cancelling 204 coal blocks on September 24 and resetting the agenda of coal block allocation, cancelling the allocation of these blocks.