BHUBANESWAR: The All Odisha Private Bus Owners’ Association on Monday deferred its plan of taking a call on a statewide bus strike till November 8. Association general secretary Debendra Sahoo said the decision regarding the statewide strike will be taken on November 8 after the meeting at Bhawanipatna.
However, local-level protests will be held immediately if the state government starts bus service from block to district level under the Location Accessible Multimodal Initiative (LAccMI) in Kalahandi, he said.
After the successful launch of the initiative in Malkangiri and Gajapati districts, the ambitious LAccMI bus service will be rolled out by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in Kalahandi district on November 1. A fleet of 63 modern buses has already arrived in the district and the administration has identified 326 stops for the launch of the service, sources said.
The bus association that has been vehemently opposing LAccMI bus operation between block and district headquarters had earlier announced take decision to resume strike on October 30. State Transport Minister Tukuni Sahu, however, had asked bus operators to withdraw their plan of protest assuring that their demands will be resolved by the government.