BHUBANESWAR: The state government has decided to launch bus services under the Location-Accessible Multimodal Initiative (LAccMI) in six southern districts from October 12.
The chief minister will start the bus service for Malkangiri district virtually. Other districts from where buses will start rolling from the day are Nabarangpur, Koraput, Rayagada, Gajapati and Kandhamal. Under the scheme, buses will run from panchayats to block headquarters and from block headquarters to district headquarters.
5T secretary VK Pandian on Monday had an interaction with employees of the LAccMI scheme and advised them to give top priority to the security of the passengers. The meeting was attended by 650 drivers, conductors and managers engaged under the scheme. Stating that road communication is the base of the economic and social development of an area, Pandian asked the employees to be sincere in their duty.
He said people from all sections including school students, members of Mission Shakti, farmers and traders will benefit from the scheme. It will also ensure that patients and their attendants reach hospitals safely. Pandian further stressed on 3S - Suraksha (security), Subidha (comfort) and Samman (respect) - and asked the employees to follow them sincerely.
Stating that LAccMI is the symbol of prosperity, the 5T secretary said implementation of the scheme will bring all-round development for the villages. Around 1,000 buses connecting all gram panchayats, block headquarters and district headquarters with major cities and economic hubs across the state, will be rolled out under the scheme.
Meanwhile, the private bus owners on the day announced their decision to put on hold the indefinite strike they had announced to launch from Tuesday, following talks with the state government. This was announced by the All Odisha Private Bus Owners’ Association after a meeting of its steering committee.
The proposed strike by the private bus operators has been deferred till October 31, general secretary of Odisha Private Bus Owners’ Association Debendra Sahu said after the steering committee meeting.