NEW DELHI: Petroleum Minister Murli Deora has told reporters that a three-day-old strike by about 55,000 white collar workers at state-run oil companies has ended. Officials and news reports had said earlier yesterday that the strike had caused a severe fuel shortage in India, leaving nearly 60 percent of gas pumps dry and delaying flights.
Harried drivers waited for an hour or more to fill up at gas stations. The office workers at the state-run oil companies, including the Indian Oil Corporation and the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd., were demanding salary hikes. Another strike involving nearly five million truckers who are demanding fuel price cuts and waivers of toll charges for six months however continues.
Earlier, the Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, discussed the crisis. “The minister of petroleum and natural gas and secretary have been instructed by the prime minister to take firm action,” Home Minister P. Chidambaram told reporters after the meeting.
— With input from agencies
