Powerful statement from fuel dealers Going beyond the ultimatum
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The pumps did not go ‘dry’, meaning they did not shut, but the Manipur Petroleum Dealers’ Fraternity delivered a powerful statement in setting December 28 as the deadline for the Government to wake up and do the needful. And to understand how powerful this ultimatum turned out to be, one will need to go beyond the ultimatum itself and note how the Government and the people responded to the stand of the oil pump dealers. Even as news of the ultimatum served on the Government was being processed and made into an intelligible news item for the people to read the following day, came the information that quite a large number of people had queued up at some fuel outlets to fill their vehicle. And even as information of the fast growing queue came to the office of this newspaper, unofficial report of the Government having started the process of reaching out to the retail outlet operators started doing the round. The retail outlets adopted the strong stand only after the Government refused to act on its memorandum submitted to the Governor on December 10. This is what was claimed by the Manipur Petroleum Dealers’ Fraternity. In effect this means that the Government reached out to the fuel outlets only after nearly two weeks had passed since the memorandum was submitted and this is where one is tempted to ask what the Government has been doing since December 10, the day the memorandum was submitted. As for the reaction of the people, one is left wondering whether the panic buying witnessed late in the evening of December 21 was a sort of a replay of the rush one witnessed when words started doing the round that a lockdown was about to be imposed during the peak of the Covid outbreak in 2021. A lockdown likely and people rushing to the petrol pumps to fill their vehicles and it was this which The Sangai Express had noted with a tinge of ‘amusement’ and frustration questioning how people expected to drive when a lockdown was imminent. An extension of this mindset was clearly visible in the long queue witnessed at some petrol pumps late in the evening of December 21, though the Manipur Petroleum Dealers’ Fraternity had clearly stated that they would be constrained to shut shop if the Government does not respond to their call to ensure security by December 28 ! In as much as the indifference of the Government to the stand of the oil pump dealers is unacceptable, the response of the people to the situation on ‘hearsay’ was more than amusing. Should say something profound about a people, a people more than willing and ready to act on hearsay and half cooked information.
In as much as the knee jerk reaction of the people to the half cooked story was comically amusing, the Government should look at the reality and demonstrate that it is here to deal with the reality and accordingly act. The call for ‘adequate protection, intervention and resolution (of the Government to deal with the situation)’ should be understood as reflecting the ground reality. Not something to be brushed aside that easily, and it should say something profound that oil pump dealers felt constrained to come to such a stage as setting a deadline or else to shut shop ! Something unheard of in any other part of the country and Raj Bhavan should be ashamed that such a reality is being played out at its courtyard. What steps the Government has taken is not yet clear but the very fact that the oil pump dealers have agreed to roll back their ultimatum should say something concrete of the earlier, utter indifference of the Government to the threat perception. Something which cannot be digested that easily. Petrol pumps shutting shop means it is the people, the common people who will be adversely affected and not the suited, booted class of people, the class of people who can get a petrol pump opened at anytime of the day with just a call !! In brushing aside the call of the petrol pump dealers, the Government is practically telling the people that they can go, take a walk. Something is just not right and this is not something which is acceptable. The men who matter in the PR administration should buckle up.
In as much as the knee jerk reaction of the people to the half cooked story was comically amusing, the Government should look at the reality and demonstrate that it is here to deal with the reality and accordingly act. The call for ‘adequate protection, intervention and resolution (of the Government to deal with the situation)’ should be understood as reflecting the ground reality. Not something to be brushed aside that easily, and it should say something profound that oil pump dealers felt constrained to come to such a stage as setting a deadline or else to shut shop ! Something unheard of in any other part of the country and Raj Bhavan should be ashamed that such a reality is being played out at its courtyard. What steps the Government has taken is not yet clear but the very fact that the oil pump dealers have agreed to roll back their ultimatum should say something concrete of the earlier, utter indifference of the Government to the threat perception. Something which cannot be digested that easily. Petrol pumps shutting shop means it is the people, the common people who will be adversely affected and not the suited, booted class of people, the class of people who can get a petrol pump opened at anytime of the day with just a call !! In brushing aside the call of the petrol pump dealers, the Government is practically telling the people that they can go, take a walk. Something is just not right and this is not something which is acceptable. The men who matter in the PR administration should buckle up.