NEW DELHI: Agitating public sector oil and natural gas commission union leaders Friday rejected the Indian government’s appeal to call off their six-day old agitation as talks with petroleum minister B Shankaran and to find a settlement failed.
“Our talks with the minister have failed and the strike is indefinite and it continues till further orders” Sridhar Vyas president of the association of scientific and technical officers (ASTO) said in a release here.
The ASTO called upon ONGC chairman S L Khosla to resign owing moral responsibility for the loss of human life.
The talks held by the minister with the 23member ASTO delegation led by Vyas lasted over an hour during which the delegation demanded that Govt make urgent efforts to get four ONGC engineers in the captivity of ULFA militants released immediately.
The minister appealed to the ONGC staff to resume work in national interests and assured them that adequate security arrangements would be made for their safety.
The ASTO wanted withdrawal of all ONGC officers from Assam till the situation became conducive for normal operations.
Article extracted from this publication >> September 20, 1991
