With the country facing acute fuel shortage because of the strike by oil PSU officers, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday asked Petroleum Minister Murali Deora to take firm action to deal with the crisis.

"The Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Secretary have been instructed by the Prime Minister to take firm action," Home Minister P Chidambaram told reporters after a meeting of the Cabinet, which was briefed on the situation on Friday morning.

Chidambaram, who has been asked by the Prime Minister to head a committee to resolve the grievances of the oil PSU officers, said the Centre has advised state governments to take firm action.

"Firm action is being taken and will be taken," he added. The Crisis Management Group headed by Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar took certain decisions to deal with the situation, he said. "Those decisions have been communicated to the state governments as well as to other authorities and those decisions will be implemented," the Home Minister said without elaborating.

The Home Minister said the oil PSU officers should not "cripple" the economy and should be resorting to strike as the government has an open mind to address their grievances related to pay revisions.

While the strike entered the third day, with long queues at several petrol pumps, government was non-committal whether the situation could be brought under control immediately.

"I cannot promise there will not be shortage anywhere but every effort is being made to handle the crisis," Chidambaram said.

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