By IANS,
New Delhi : Employees of public sector oil companies, whose strike has crippled fuel supplies across India, have been asked to get back to work right away, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said here Friday.
Emerging from a meeting of the union cabinet, Deora told the media that “the prime minister and all other ministers” were unanimous that the officers should call off their strike at once.
Deora said he had held talks with the strike leaders till 1.30 a.m. Friday, but to no avail. He did not say anything about conceding to the strikers’ demand for a wage hike, indicating that the government had called off negotiations.
The strike that started Wednesday has led to petrol pumps across the country running dry, power stations unable to function due to lack of natural gas and even the Mathura refinery – one of the largest in north India – being forced to shut down.