Private buses in Odisha to go off roads again!

Bhubaneswar: A high-level meeting scheduled to be held today between Odisha private bus owner’s association and state Transport Department officials has failed. The outfit boycotted it in protest as the meeting was convened excluding their charter of demands.

Following this, the private bus owner’s outfit will hold its General Body meeting tomorrow. It is very likely that it may start the stir again, association secretary Debendra Sahu said.

It is pertinent to mention, the association had initially called for a cease-wheel (Chaka-Bandh) agitation across Odisha from October 10. Subsequently, the outfit had a discussion with 5T Secretary VK Pandian in the virtual mode in the presence of Jajpur MLA Pranab Prakash Das, Capital Region Urban Transport (CRUT) Managing Director Arun Kumar Bothra and Transport Commissioner Amitabh Thakur. After this, the strike was put on hold till October 31.

“The cease-wheel (Chaka-Bandh) agitation will begin from October 10 in the morning at around 6.00 am. This was decided in a meeting of district private bus owners’ associations from across the State. The stir will continue till our demands are met,” the outfit general secretary had warned.

The strike was called opposing LAccMI scheme of the Odisha Government, which was launched on October 12. The association had also previously decided to go on an indefinite strike across the State, in its General Body meeting held on September 27.