CRUT Gets A Pat From Centre For Initiatives During COVID-19 Pandemic

Bhubaneswar: The Central government has appreciated various initiatives of Capital Region Urban Transport (CRUT), here during COVID-19 pandemic.

Durga Shankar Mishra, secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), has said other cities in the country should learn from CRUT, Bhubaneswar about carrying out social responsibility.

“CRUT, Bhubaneswar has set an example for the rest of the cities how social responsibility is addressed during a pandemic by bringing facilities to doorstep through conversion of neighbourhood bus stops into vegetable vending zones & providing Grocery on Wheels,” he said in a tweet.

In the subsequent tweet, he wrote, “It initiated ‘Bus Pathshala’, a unique way to virtually train more than 1,200 bus crew & staff members & utilise pandemic time for developing skills & resources. They utilised social media activities like MoBus-MoStory & Games of MoBus for developing/spreading awareness.”

Mobus service of CRUT was adjudged the best in the country by MoHUA at 13th Urban Mobility Conference. On Monday, CRUT was presented ‘Award of Excellence’ for ‘Innovations undertaken in Urban Transport during COVID-19’.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik unveiled a book, ‘Bus Pathsala’ on the occasion of second anniversary of MoBus on November 6. This compilation of virtual training sessions conducted during the pandemic on soft skills and technical skills is first of its kind publication by any public transport company in the country.

At present, 109 Mo Buses are operating on 17 routes with around 26,000 footfall per day.