BHUBANESWAR: BJD on Friday stepped up its attack on Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan for his failure to complete the repair of NH-55 as a result of which people of three districts, Sambalpur, Angul and Dhenkanal are unable to take advantage of the state government’s LAccMI.
BJD national spokesperson and Rajya Sabha member Sasmit Patra told mediapersons here that the rural connectivity scheme LAccMI launched by the government has connected all district headquarters with blocks. The government is running 1,600 buses under the scheme besides 122 Jagannath Express buses to connect people of different districts with Puri.
Patra said the LAccMI scheme has helped lakhs of students realise their dreams by connecting more than 62,000 educational institutes. It has also generated 32,000 jobs for the youth. Besides, 9,000 bus queue shelters have been built as resting places for women and senior citizens, he added.
The BJD leader said at only Rs 5 per ticket, women, students and divyangs can now travel across rural Odisha comfortably. However, all this good work is being undone in Sambalpur and nearby districts of Angul and Dhenkanal due to the very poor condition of NH-55, he said. Because of this lakhs of women, students and elderly are suffering, he added.