Bhubaneswar, Oct 19 : The Private Bus Owners Association on Thursday announced to go on an indefinite strike from 6 AM on Friday after the meeting between the Association and the government failed to resolve the problem.
Earlier the Private Bus Owners Association had called for an indefinite strike from October 10 in protest against the launching of Location -Accessible multimodal initiative (LAccMI) bus services from panchayats to district headquarters by the state government.
The strike was postponed from October 10 to October 31 after the government at a meeting on October 9 had assured to ply the LAccMI bus service from Panchayats to block and to allow private buses to ply from Block to District headquarters.
Private Bus Owners Association General Secretary Debendra Sahu said on October 12, the government deviated from its assurances and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched the LAccMI bus service from Panchayat to District headquarter in Malkangiri district.
Though on today a meeting was held with the Chief Minister’s office to resolve the deadlock but it failed to break the ice as the government did not give any written assurance to ply the LAccMI bus service from Panchayats to block.
Around 14,000 private buses would remain off the road tomorrow in response to the call given by the association.
Over four lakh passengers depend upon private buses daily to reach their destination.
With the Durgapuja around the corner, the passengers will have a harrowing time to reach their home.
Though the strike will begin from Friday, the impact of the proposed strike is visible on Thursday.
Hundreds of passengers were seen gathered at various bus stands and bus stops to board the bus.
The price of the ticket has almost doubled.
A member of the Association said they do not intend to put the passengers in trouble and beg apology for the inconvenience caused to the passengers.
