KOCHI:The Chief Secretary has submitted before the Kerala High Court that since loading and unloading activities are an integral part of the supply and transportation of LPG, it would come within the ambit of the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA).
The State filed the affidavit following a High Court directive to inform whether transportation of LPG gas cylinder and petroleum products could be put under the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA).
The court had issued the order on the petition filed by the All-Kerala LPG Distributors Federation, seeking police protection for loading and unloading of LPG cylinder. The petitioners submitted that due to the strike by headload workers’ unions, loading and unloading works were disrupted. The court also considered a petition filed by the Confederation of Consumer Vigilance Centre seeking the court’s intervention to solve the issues faced by LPG consumers due to the frequent disruption in distribution. The government is of the opinion that the strike by employees and owners of trucks transporting LPG cylinder would adversely affect LPG distribution.
“Against this backdrop, exercising the powers conferred by Clause-(a) of Subsection-(1) of Section-2 of the Kerala Essential Service Maintenance Act, the government has declared the service of transportation and supply of LPG in the State as an essential service as per the Act. Also, through a Statutory Rules and Order (SRO), the government has prohibited strike in the service of transportation of LPG cylinder in Kerala,” the affidavit stated. State Attorney P Vijaya Raghavan clarified that since loading and unloading of LPG cylinder are an integral part of the supply and transportation of LPG, it would come within the ambit of the SRO, and that the order was issued with the intention of avoiding hardships to the public due to the frequent strikes in that service.