BHUBANESWAR: Private bus owners on Monday threatened to gherao Odisha legislative assembly on November 22 protesting the state government’s Location Accessible Multi-modal Initiative' (LAccMI) scheme that provides a seamless public transport network in rural areas.
The All Odisha Bus Owners’ Association in its general body meeting held at Bhawanipatna in Kalahandi district on November 8 had issued an ultimatum to the government till November 22 to fulfil their demands, but the association allegedly did not get any positive response from the state.
“We were agreed to allow LAccMI buses from panchayat to blocks by bearing losses, but we cannot allow the service from block level to district level. The government should have discussed with us and solved our problem, but so far we have not received any positive responses on this aspect,” said Debendra Sahu, general secretary of the association.
Following this, Sahu said, the association took a decision to stage dharna in front of the state assembly on November 22 seeking fulfilment of their demands. “If the government does not take any steps after the dharna, all private buses in the state will go off-road from December 1,” he added.
On October 26, a discussion held between the government and private bus operators did not yield a desirable result with both making contrary remarks about a mutual resolution. Bus operators said the scheme will affect their livelihoods.
On October 20, the bus operators went on a strike during which more than 14,000 buses went off the roads. However, after discussion with the government, they called off their agitation later in the day.
