Demanding the withdrawal of marketing discipline guidelines (MDG), All India lPG Federation, Uttarakhand, will also be participating in the nation-wide indefinite period strike from Tuesday. The strike will put a stop on supply of lPG cylinders to consumers by the agencies.
Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Dehradun Deputy Manager Dhirendra Kumar said that at national level, IOC officers called a meeting with the distributors on Monday to address their grievances. He expressed hope that positive outcome will be achieved from this meeting. Customers should not panic because only 42 out of total 145 distributors in the State are supporting the strike, he said.
The association president Chaman lal said, “In order to oppose pathetic working conditions of lPG distributors and harassment of consumers under MDG, All India lPG Distributors’ Federation (AIlDF) has called this strike due to which cylinders will not be supplied to customers from Tuesday.”
He said that the association is demanding withdrawal of MDG, which has allegedly curbed lPG distributors’ rights. This strike will continue unless IOC withdraws MDG. The federation demands an immediate relief from the tight grip of the oil and marketing companies. The guidelines levy stiff financial penalties. Neither oil marketing companies nor the Minister has any authority under any law to levy such penalties, he added.
Chamanlal said that MDG provides a platform for corruption to lower level officials responsible to review distributors. At present, each distributor is allowed only 12,000 refills. The federation is demanding this number be increased to 16,000. The federation is also not in favour of appointment of new distributors. The federation has also demanded that its profit limit be increased, he added.