Private buses in Odisha to halt indefinitely over 8-point charter of demands from Jan 17

Bhubaneswar: The State Private Bus Owners’ Association decided today to halt the vehicles in Odisha for an indefinite period over an 8-point charter of demands starting from Jan 17 coming year.

Movement of the private buses will be completely ceased, in case the outfit’s demands are not met before the stipulated date. This was decided in the general body meeting held here.

An office-bearer of the association said that the 8-point charter of demands includes the withdrawal of the State government’s scrap policy, expediting delay in the issuance of permits to fit buses as per the deadline previously determined by Odisha Transport Commissioner, accordance of sleeper coaches to run during day hours and early completion of the Manguli-Sambalpur and Balangir-Bargarh road expansion works. The association will get down to roads in the days ahead, the office-bearer warned.

The government has not been paying any heed to our demands despite running from pillar to post since 2020 in this regard. However, we will wait till January 16, some of the private bus owners rued.