Mining Ideas and Coal

Abbreviations

Chapter I

General

The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can’t find them, make them."

– George Bernard Shaw

1. Joining and growing in the company

I joined the organisation as a Mining Graduate Trainee (MGT) in October 1976. Pursuing degree in mining engineering at Osmania University, Hyderabad, and joining SCCL was coincidental.

While filling up my application form in the second half of 1971 after passing the Pre University Course (PUC), my father suggested that I should choose Mining Engineering. It was not because he had any knowledge about mining, but rather that the branch of Mining Engineering seemed new compared to the erstwhile familiar branches like Civil, Electrical, Mechanical, Electronics and Communications and Chemical Engineering. My father Dr. J. V. B. Rama Sastri was a Unani Medical Officer in the Department of Indian Medicine and Homeopathy, Government of the Andhra Pradesh, as it was then. He had spent 14 years of his career at a stretch in the Dharmapuri village, Jagtial Taluq of Karimnagar District from May 1961 to June 1975 as the in-charge of the Unani Dispensary there. My entire span of education up to Class 11, or (HSC), was in the Primary School and at the Zilla Parishad High School in Dharmapuri.

My formal schooling began from Class Four. I passed the HSC in 1969 after a loss of one academic year due to the agitation for Telangana and studied my PUC level in the Government Arts and Science College, Jagtial in Karimnagar district in 1970. I graduated with my BE in Mining Engineering from the University College of Engineering, Osmania University in August, 1976.

There was an advertisement of SCCL in the newspapers calling for applications from mining graduates for the post of Mining Graduate Trainees (MGT) in September 1976 and I applied. I was called for interview at the Head Office in Kothagudem in the first week of October 1976. I attended interview and by October 15, I received my appointment order as MGT, to join within fifteen days. I was reluctant to join and hoped for a job outside the state. Again, my father suggested that I join SCCL having received the appointment order and told me to leave it if I got a better job elsewhere. I joined SCCL at its mines in Ramagundam Area on the last day of the fifteen days’ time, on October 29, 1976.

I started my career at GDK 8 incline, which was in the RG-II division. After two years of training in GDK 8 incline, GDK 6 incline and GDK 9A incline, I was posted as Under Manager (II class) at GDK 8 incline in December 1978. I appeared for the examination in November 1979 for the sole paper ‘Mine Management, Legislation and General Safety’. Mining Graduates are required to pass to obtain First Class Manager’s Certificate of Competency to manage a coal mine under the Coal Mines Regulation 1957. I cleared it in my first attempt. I was appointed as the Colliery Manager for GDK 3 incline UG mine in March 1983.

It was in the second half of 1986, when I was working as Colliery Manager of GDK 3 Incline, the then C&MD Sri G. P. Rao IAS, during his visit to Ramagundam Area, held a one-on-one interaction with the mine managers in the region. When my turn came, I went to his chambers. He asked about my mine. He said, Mr. Dattatreyulu, if you are made C&MD of this company, what would you do to increase coal production, productivity and profitability? For a few seconds I didn’t find words to reply to his question. Slowly, and with confidence in my voice, which the experience in the company of about ten years had given me, I said, Sir, with manual mining, production increase will be incremental. If we want quantum jumps in production, we should go for highly mechanised underground mines and opencast mines. I had stated the obvious. Till then, I had never worked in a mechanized underground or opencast mine. I had no idea about planning of mechanised mines in the company.

I was promoted as Superintendent of Mines (SOM) in December 1986 and posted to the opencast mine in Ramagundam Area, RG OC-I in January 1987.

After three-and-a-half years of working there, I was promoted as the Deputy CME in June 1990, and then transferred to PK. OC2, Manuguru Area. In June 1991, I was posted as the Agent of the same mine.

In June 1994, turning down my request for a light job in the corporate office on health grounds, I was transferred and posted as the Agent of OC1 and COC mines in Manuguru Area. Till November 1999, I continued in the same post.

I was posted as Staff Officer to Director (OP) Sri P. Satyanarayana at the Head Office, Kothagudem, towards the end of November 1999. By the end of August 2000, while I was working as the SO to Director (OP), I was told that I was being considered as a replacement for Sri T. V. S. Rao, who was retiring on September 30, on superannuation, for the post of SO to C&MD. On September 5, I received my order, posting me as the Officer on Special duty (OSD) in the office of C&MD and I joined duty on September 7, 2000. From October 1, I was designated as SO to C&MD.

Somewhere in the first week of June 2002, I was called by the then Director (P.A&W) Sri GSG Ayyangar to his camp office in Singareni Bhavan. He told me that as Sri P. Vasudeva Rao was moving out of Manuguru Area, to take over as Director (Operations) at the Head Office in Kothagudem, the management was thinking of posting me as the General Manager of Manuguru Area.

I was a little perturbed. I told him that I had not even completed two years in my then current position I had admitted my daughter in an engineering course in Hyderabad. She was in her second year of her studies. He advised me to think it over and decide for myself, and for my career, as I had 11 more years’ service ahead. He advised me on the merits of working in a field posting as the General Manager as it would provide me with an opportunity to prove myself rather than working in a passive post like the present, however challenging it may have been. He told me that as a well-wisher, he gave me advice and it was for me to decide. I got the order posting me as the General Manager, Manuguru Area towards the month end and took charge from July 1, 2002.

I was selected as Director (P&P), super-ceding two of my seniors Sri Parameswaran Potti and Sri Shashi Kapoor and I took over as Director (P&P) from September 1, 2004. I was appointed as the Director (OP) from October 1, 2006. I held the post as Director on the Board of SCCL for 8 years 3 months, surpassing the record that my respected predecessor Sri S. A. Vyas set as the Director (7 years 8 months).

Towards the end of my career I was posted as CEO of NTPC-SCCL Joint Venture (NSGPL) with headquarters at New Delhi, from where I retired on superannuation from company’s service on 30th April 2013.

2. As Manager of a UG mine:

I was appointed as the Colliery Manager for GDK 3incline mine in March 1983. I was excited and afraid. At times, I was a little proud of becoming a manger of a mine at a very young age. I was under 30. Barring a few under-managers and trainees, all supervisors were older than I was and were more experienced. One First Class Assistant Manager reporting to me was 10 years my senior at college. But from the day I joined the mine; I was treated with a lot of respect and got a lot of support. I worked with a lot of devotion and commitment. I learned many things and made thorough inspections of underground workings including abandoned workings paying attention to roof support, mine ventilation, ensuring proper working places for coal filler gangs.

With all the valuable suggestions and support from my supervisors, and all of us working hard, the mine which was planned for early closure on the pretext of adverse geo-mining conditions was expanded, probing hitherto abandoned patches and finding them viable.

On the other hand, there used to be many cat-call strikes disrupting the production and bringing down the overall morale. Coal fillers or piece-rated persons whose work of coal filling into the coal tubs is the main activity and every other activity is subservient to this in a manual mining mine, were a highly militant group that went on strikes at the drop of a hat. They affected the wages of all other time rated workers as they had to be laid off.

For instance, one day, I was sitting in the under-manager’s room, a little distance away from the place of work allocation, going through the night shift report and discussing it with the night shift under-manager and supervisors. Suddenly, the supervisor of Shift I who was responsible for work allocation rushed into the room and told me that the coal fillers wanted me to come out of the room and stand on an elevated platform to answer questions. I told the supervisor to convey that it was not proper to waste time at the beginning of the shift and if they have anything to ask, two or three persons could come and talk to me, while the others could go down the mine to work. Better still, they could come and see me at the end of the shift. After a few minutes, the supervisor came back saying that the coal fillers had gone home, having gone on a strike. As per the practice in vogue, the rest of the workers were laid off without compensation. Strike continued in Shift II as Coal Fillers didn’t go down, because Shift I people had not gone down. This happened in Shift III as well. The next day, all the workmen went into the mine, calling off the strike with no demands and no assurances from the management.

2.1 Machine rotation

There was a system of ‘machine rotation’ in GDK3 incline. The mine is divided into sections or districts and in each district, a certain number of machine gangs works. Each machine gang consists of 20 coal fillers. Each set has a serial number. Every 6 months, machine gangs are rotated among the districts as per an agreed pattern. This is an arrangement amongst the coal fillers and the management has nothing to do except for facilitating role.

The machine gangs changed to a less favourable district used to stay away from work protesting the rotation and used to go home while others were working as per the change. After a few days, the gangs going home would stop the mine. The mine would be on strike. Discussing, grumbling and shouting at each other, somehow, the disgruntled group would reconcile and the mine would resume normalcy. The drama was invariably enacted again after six months with a fresh rotation.

Having observed this once or twice, I asked the Welfare Officer (WO) to put up a notice on the notice-board indicating the likely pattern of the next rotation of machine gangs two months before the due date, with advice to approach the welfare officer and the general shift under-manager if anyone had any objections. The gangs used to discuss issues with the WO and the General Shift under-manager after work hours. Fifteen days before the due date, I held a meeting with two representatives each from the machine gangs, the WOs and supervisors and decided by consensus, what the rotation would be. Later, the process was so unobtrusive that on the day of the rotation, a supervisor used to come and tell me that he had allocated work according to the new rotation without any hassles.The workers, especially the time rated ones, appreciated my initiative saying, Sir, by making coal fillers resolve their issues by themselves, you have created a peaceful atmosphere and prevented loss of wages on account of strikes!

2.2 12-day strike by Coal fillers

There was a strike of 12 days because of the stand I had taken. There is a long history of strikes in the mine owing to the presence of clay in the working section of a coal seam. Clay is heavier than coal and when it absorbs water it gets even heavier. Because they have to load the clay and coal together, the coal fillers demand extra payment for the effort. There used to be arguments on the extra payments that used to lead to strikes. At times, the clay layer vanished as there were variations in the seam structure on account of geological disturbances. If clay vanished, the problem vanished.

To find a workable solution, before I took charge as manager, a formula was devised. If the clay is one foot thick, one muster is given extra, if it is two feet thick, two musters are given and 3 musters extra for three feet thick clay band. Face used to be abandoned if the thickness exceeds one meter. For example if a coal filling gang of 10 fill 16 tubs at the rate of 2 tubs per head for 8 coal fillers, 2 musters for the remaining 2 coal fillers have to be given when there is 2 feet clay in the working face. This means that the company incurs extra expenditure for loading Clay mixed coal into coal tubs which lowers the grade of coal, causing additional loss to the company. I talked to the coal fillers, explaining the need to load only coal while clay was to be separated by deploying one or two mazdoors to facilitate loading. This would improve the quality while also allowing one to avoid handling heavier clay.

I told them that I would take coal fillers for this job on a muster basis if there were no mazdoors to spare and the clay was not to be loaded along with coal. Since the coal fillers agreed to the proposal, I instructed the supervisors to provide necessary mazdoors or coal fillers to separate the clay. To my surprise when I went for inspection of the face with Sri Surya Das, the Under Manager in general shift, I found business as usual. Clay was loaded along with coal as per old practice. I expressed my displeasure to the coal fillers.

I told them that I would not pay musters as clay was not being separated as agreed by them and consider all the 10 fillers on filling only and that they would be paid as per the number of tubs they filled.

All hell broke loose. The strike commenced from Shift II onwards. I explained the issue to the Agent GDK 1&3 Inclines, Sri A. Govardhan and GM of the RG I Area Sri. V. P. Mehta, both of whom supported me. Prolonged discussions took place with unions. The strike was called off after twelve days with the understanding that clay has to be blasted separately. Mazdoors has to remove clay and coal fillers would load coal only. With this strike, the problem could be settled once for all.

The message went down that when a principled stand was taken by the management it will not bow down to unreasonable demands. While adopting a favourable disposition towards workmen’s issues, when the company’s interests are seriously affected, a tough stance needs to be adopted. If things are properly explained, workmen will listen. But if vested interests provoke them, they resort to strikes and resume duties without achieving anything.

2.3 Regulating deployment on weekly day of rest

There is a category of time-rated employees called ‘Linemen’, who are responsible for laying track and to repair it when needed. Proper track maintenance is essential in a manual-mining mine, for the movement of coal tubs from underground workings to surface through a series of haulages and movement of empty tubs in the return direction. The linemen demanded that certain number of gangs had to be called on every weekly day of rest, and if so many gangs were not deployed, they would not turn up for work. I told them that I cannot come to such an understanding. The deployment on weekly days of rest would be as per the need. The principle was to take up such work on the weekly day of rest which, in the normal working day, unduly affects the coal production and despatches.

The deployment of workmen on weekly days of rest entails double the wages along with a day’s compensatory rest in the next week. A day or two in advance, it was decided as to who would be deployed on the weekly day of rest with the rest days marked against each person according to Mines Rules, the list used to be displayed on the notice board. Every week, a list of linemen gangs that were required to work on weekly day of rest used to be displayed. They never turned up for work. This went on for about six months.

One day, there was an emergency to change a crossing on the main haulage line. That was the work normally planned for a weekly day of rest. As the linemen did not turn up on weekly days of rest, it was taken up on the normal working day. Sri Surya Das assured me that he would take care of the situation. On the appointed day, work started at 7:30 AM under his supervision after ensuring that on the previous day, Shift III would pull out all the loaded tubs and the empties were distributed to the working places. By 12.30 PM, the track was restored successfully completing the operation. Though tub-raising was affected in Shift I, it was made up in Shift II. Later, the Linemen withdrew their demand and started turning up for work on weekly days of rest.

The decision I took may have caused some inconvenience and heartburn amongst the Linemen. They did not show their resentment in any manner. They obeyed all instructions. It was their goodness and law abiding nature that encouraged that. Trade union leaders did not pursue the matter as they knew that I had taken a principled stand. Had I taken a live-and-let-live approach and not addressed the issues, I would have been hailed as a ‘God-like person’ with a little sarcasm. It means that I would be soft and not strict, and would be unmindful of whatever happens in the mine. Some people wanting to be popular at the expense of the company would be slack in enforcing systems and procedures.

It is my belief that in a labour-intensive industry, people in leadership roles have to zealously protect the interests of the company in terms of enforcing discipline, systems, policies and procedures, avoiding wasteful expenditure, finding improved ways of working, and at the same time, be fair, transparent and proactive in creating comfortable working conditions for the workmen.

3. As the manager of an OC mine:

I was posted to the opencast mine Rg OC-I in Ramagundam Area in January 1987. On November 27, 1986, the then Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Sri N. T. Rama Rao inaugurated the 24/96 Walking Dragline of Ramson and Rapier make at RG OC-I mine and named the machine as Prithvi Bhanjan. With the introduction of Dragline, the mine achieved a capacity of 2. 0 Million Ton per annum (MTPA) by 1987-88. Around January 1, 1987 Sri R. K. Biswas was transferred from GDK 1 incline on promotion as Deputy CME, while Sri L. Bhooma Reddy was already working as the Additional CME / Agent of the mine, where I was posted as SOM to perform duties of Colliery Manager under