Pay arrears or won’t give fuel, Pondy coop bunks tell govt

This move has forced Agriculture Minister R Kamalakannan to take a Puducherry Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) bus to reach here from his native place Karaikal. On taking the bus service, the Minister said that he was denied diesel and being a public servant he has to take other mode of transport to perform his democratic obligations. 

A board stating that petrol/diesel would not be provided to government vehicles with effect from December 30 was placed in the Amudha Surabhi petrol bunk. This decision has also put the Health Department in a fix as ambulance would also not get petrol/diesel. In this regard, senior officials met Health Minister Malladi Krishna Rao and apprised him of the situation. Another meeting in this regard was scheduled to be held on Friday evening.

Meanwhile, according to co-operative sector officials, an amount to the tune of over Rs 7 crore is due from the government departments including Rs 2.5 crore to the petrol pumps alone. Because of this Amudha Surabhi is unable to provide salary to the employees.