Oil PSUs and NE

Hardeep Singh Puri, Union Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas, who is also Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs, said on Saturday in Sivasagar that, driven by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s commitment to the North-East, government and public enterprises like ONGC are committed to improving lives in the region. While the fact remains that exploration of petroleum and natural gas constitutes the core activity of oil PSUs like ONGC and Oil India Ltd., these companies also have a responsibility to improve the overall lives of people living in the region. Healthcare and infrastructure development are definitely priority areas in this respect. These also include supporting drinking water projects, setting up and maintaining schools and hospitals in their respective areas of operation, empowering women, and, above all, contributing towards shaping young people into employable-skilled individuals. Taking a close look, one finds that almost all oil PSUs have made significant contributions to various sectors. Despite that, the local people have some grievances against them. While some of these grievances are genuine, some are not. There are a number of self-styled student and youth bodies who allegedly run a campaign against the oil PSUs with ulterior motives. There are also allegations against the oil PSUs of failing to provide sizable employment to local youth. Given this scenario, the oil PSUs should come out with an annual report exclusively dedicated to local development activities and CSR projects, clearly mentioning their contribution towards an increase in Assam’s per capita income, improvement of the health indices, and support for human resource development, among others. Simultaneously, the state government should take stern measures against groups and organisations that try to blackmail and disrupt the oil PSUs from carrying out their primary tasks: exploration of oil and natural gas, production of refined petroleum products, supply of gas to the downstream PSUs, tea gardens, and so on.