Bhubaneswar: The new scheme announced by the Government of Odisha to provide seamless public transport network across the State from Gram Panchayat level up to State Capital is going to start soon. After the State Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik approved the LAccMI scheme last week, an amount of Rs 556 crore has also been allocated for it in the supplementary budget.
Within days of the decision, the new buses have started arriving in the state. The buses have started to arrive in the districts and are being readied to be rolled out soon. In an Instagram post, 5T Secretary V K Pandian has informed that the buses have arrived in Odisha. In the first instance, nine new modern buses have reached Malkangiri.
The initiative will establish a seamless Public Transport network across the State from Gram Panchayat level up to State Capital to provide reliable and affordable services. About 1,000 buses would be deployed under the Scheme. The tenure of the scheme would be for 10 years further extendable by 2 years. Based on the review and performance further allocation would be considered.
Facilitating efficient means of transport of agricultural commodities from their production sites to appropriate destinations would be another initiative under the Scheme. Under this scheme ‘Jagannath Express’ will connect District Headquarters to Bhubaneswar or to Puri via Bhubaneswar and LAccMI Express will provide connectivity between District HQs and or major cities. The Bus Operation under this Scheme has been planned to connect all the Panchayatas, Block Headquarters, District Headquarters, major cities and economic hubs across the State.