Private Buses To Go Off Roads From August 16 In Protest Against Govt Scheme In Odisha

Bhubaneswar: The private buses will go off the roads in Odisha from August 16 in protest against the state government’s scheme on rural bus services.

Speaking to media persons on Sunday, Debendra Sahu, secretary of Odisha Private Bus owners’ Association, said the private bus owners are already affected by the Mo Bus service of CRUT in selected urban areas including Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Puri, Sambalpur, Rourkela and Sundargarh.

“Now the government has announced to introduce its own buses in rural areas under Location Accessible Multimodal Initiative (LAccMI) scheme on August 15. It will further bring down our income. The bus owners will sustain a loss of around Rs 1.5 crore on daily basis with this scheme. Though we are not against improving communication facilities for people, we want the government to consider our concern also,” he said.

Though the association members had discussed the matter with the chief minister on July 26, no remedial step has been taken in the interest of private bus owners. In view of this, the association has decided to go on an indefinite strike from August 16, he added.

“More than 14,000 private buses will go off the roads as part of the agitation. Around 70,000 drivers, conductors and helpers will resort to cease-work agitation,” Sahu said.

It may be noted that the government had earlier announced to provide bus service from panchayat to block headquarters under LAccMI scheme to boost communication in rural areas. In the first phase, the scheme will be launched in Gajapati, Kalahandi and undivided Koraput districts.