Bhubaneswar: Giving a major relief to the bus commuters, Transport Minister Tukuni Sahu today said that there will be no bus strike in the State as the demands of the Odisha Private Bus Owners’ Association (AOPBOA) will be resolved through mutual discussion.
A meeting between the private bus owners’ association and the Transport Minister was held here at Kharvel Bhawan today.
Speaking to media persons after the meeting, Shrimati Sahu said, “There will be no bus strike. All issues will be resolved through discussions. The association has been asked to submit its demands in writing by October 30. A departmental committee will look into them.”
The association has no objection to the operation of buses from Panchayat to blocks. They are only opposing plying of LAccMI buses on the routes where private buses are operating, Minister Transport said.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has launched the LAccMI scheme to provide bus services to the unconnected areas. Under which, a village woman or student can easily commute to a block or district headquarter by using the bus service, she said.
The Minister further stated that the bus service was launched in remote areas of Kalahandi, Gajapati, Malkangiri districts and western or northern parts of the state, where public transport service is not available.
In the coming days, such buses will ply from block to district headquarters and districts to capital city and Puri, the Minister assured.
However, Bus Association Secretary Debendra Sahu said that the meeting was neither a success nor a failure. “The bus strike has been postponed till October 31. It has not been called off. The general body of the association will take decision on further course of action on October 30,” he said.
The Apex Private Buses Owners’ body in Odisha had launched an “indefinite” strike on October 20 over playing of buses in certain routes under the Location Accessible Multimodal Initiative (LAccMI) and Mo Bus schemes of the state government. However, the Association put their strike on hold till October 31 after holding a discussion with the State Government.
