Union oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan (ANI)

NEW DELHI: State-run fuel retailers on Monday announced a life cover of Rs 5 lakh for roughly 15 lakh people manning LPG delivery chain, including delivery boys. The companies are also considering extending the cover to petrol pump attendants. These are the ‘corona warriors’ who are risking their lives through the pandemic to ensure not a single kitchen or vehicle carrying essential items run out of fuel anywhere in the country.

"This will be in the form of ex-gratia payment in case any of them, employed by LPG distributors or petrol pump owners, unfortunately dies as a result of coronvirus infection. This is in addition to the providing medical cover of Rs 1 lakh provided for treatment or hospitalisation," Sanjiv Singh , chairman of IndianOil , the country’s largest fuel retailer told TOI.

The move immediately drew a pat from oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan , who tweeted, "This gesture of goodwill is a recognition of the services rendered by our personnel in these trying times. The well-being of our workers is of paramount importance, this compassionate move will strengthen the safety nets of our workforce aiding India's fight against corona." His ministry also donated Rs 1,000 crore to the PM-CARES fund for fighting the pandemic.

All India LPG distributors federation president Chandra Prakash said the step will benefit regular employees of distributors and associates on contracts or daily wages such as helpers etc. All of them have been provided with protective gear and briefed on heath safety measures to avoid infection.

"These are the frontline workers in contact with the public," Singh, who continues to work in spite of losing his father last week, said adding the companies can pay the ex-gratia quickly to bring immediate help to the family, while the insurance process takes take. Because of the dedication of these people, there has been no shortage of LPG anywhere in the country.

"We are getting many reports of people refusing to take delivery as they did not expect us to deliver on time. We are delivering 40% more refills in spite of the lockdown. But bookings are still 20% higher than normal but we are delivering 40% more refills. There is no need for panic," Singh said.

Singh said the PSU oil companies hold enough stock of LPG to last 20-22 days. Crude and refined product stocks are good enough to last for 10-15 days. "LPG demand has risen 4% in the last five weeks, while demand for other products have fallen sharply. I expect LPG demand to rise further as people remain confined to their homes and supply of free refills to 8.3 crore poor households under Ujjwala scheme begins next month. We are tying up additional LPG shipments from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and UAE," he said. India imports 55% of the 27.5 million tonne of LPG it consumes in a year and Saudi Arabia supplies some 200,000 tonne of the fuel every month.

The number of panic-bookings of LPG cylinders are showing signs of ebbing as many consumers, who booked a refill in anticipation of delays due to the corona lockdown, had to turn away delivery boys because they were yet to exhaust a cylinder but the refills arrived within the usual period.

