The Hindu : Front Page : Officers of oil firms should be given protection: Mani Shankar Aiyar

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Sunday, Dec 11, 2005

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Officers of oil firms should be given protection: Mani Shankar Aiyar

Correspondent

`The Government will not bow to pressure from mafia and will curb adulteration'

Kolar: Governments will be asked to provide adequate protection to officers of oil companies working in their respective States, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Mani Shankar Aiyar has said.

The Government will not bow to the oil mafia's pressure tactics under any circumstance. It is determined to eradicate adulteration, he said.

He was talking to presspersons here on Saturday after meeting the members of the family of S. Manjunath, Sales Officer of Indian Oil Corporation, who was murdered in Uttar Pradesh on November 19.

The Cabinet Committee on Energy Coordination meeting, which is slated to be held on December 16, will recommend measures to prevent any atrocities in future, he said. Steps will be taken to check adulteration of petroleum products and discussions held on measures to rein in the oil mafia. Mr. Aiyar said he has urged the Prime Minister to write to Chief Ministers of all States to provide adequate protection to officers of oil companies.

Sales officers of oil companies working in various parts of the country should treat the incident as a challenge and work towards eradicating adulteration.

According to a survey conducted by the Ministry, over 90 per cent of families below the poverty line secure their quota of kerosene, but there is misallocation at wholesale points. The Ministry will initiate measures to check this, he said.

Adulteration is more rampant in urban areas. People should join hands with the Government to check the menace, he said.

Mr. Aiyar denied reports that it has been decided to increase the price of liquefied petroleum gas. Any such step will be first discussed in the Cabinet Committee on Economic Reforms, he said.

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