Bhubaneswar, Nov 8: Frustrated over the state government's "dilly-dallying" in meeting their demands, the All Odisha Private Bus Owners’ Association (AOPBOA) on Wednesday threatened to go on a state-wide agitation by keeping their buses off roads from December 1, 2023.

A decision in this regard was taken by the All Odisha Private Bus Owners’ Association after a crucial meeting held at Bhawanipatna. The private bus owners have been opposing the state government’s launch of its own bus services from block to district level under the Location Accessible Multimodal Initiative (LAccMI).

“The Private Bus Owners have also decided to stage a dharna in front of the Odisha Assembly on November 22 in Bhubaneswar due to non-fulfillments of its demands,” informed association member Barada Acharya.

Though the association had announced to resume their strike on October 30, the stir was postponed following talks with the state transport minister Tukuni Sahu.

Secretary of the association, Devendra Sahoo said, “A meeting was held at Bhawanipatna today. We have already submitted our demands in writing to the Odisha government. We demanded not to operate buses from blocks to district headquarters and rather ply buses from panchayats to blocks. We also want compensation, waiver of additional taxes.”

Sahoo said that if the Odisha government doesn’t consider their demands, they will stage a demonstration in front of the Assembly on November 22 and launch a strike on December 1, 2023.

“We have given time to the Odisha government to look into our demands. Otherwise, we will be forced to go ahead with our proposed stir after the dharna in Bhubaneswar. We are giving time to the government and ready for discussions,” Sahoo added.

Around 14,000 private buses are being run in Odisha by 8,000 bus owners. The state government has around 1,000 buses only.

Read: Passengers In Odisha Face Harrowing Times As 14,000 Buses Remain Off Roads

The private bus owners have been demanding inclusion of their buses in the LAccMI scheme. Besides, they have been demanding compensation for the losses suffered due to introduction of new buses by the state government under the LAccMi scheme.

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