Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today inaugurated LAccMI bus services in five more districts to provide affordable transportation for rural people.
He flagged off the affordable bus service in Balangir, Bargarh, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj and Sundargarh districts under the Location Accessible Multi-Modal Initiative (LAccMI) scheme through a video conferencing programme here.
Speaking on the occasion, the CM said, “My government is the government of the people. Odisha Government makes plans respecting the wishes of the people. We felt the difficulties of people after the Chairman and CMO visited the districts. After examining people’s feedback, the LAccMI bus scheme was prepared to address the transportation problem of the villagers.”
The LAccMI bus service was first inaugurated in the Malkangiri district. Later, the bus service was available for the people in Nabarangpur, Rayagada, Kalahandi, Gajapati and Koraput in the first phase. Subsequently, another three districts were added to the scheme in the second phase.
With inauguration of LAccMI bus service in five more districts today, total 14 districts were covered under the scheme, which is a programme under 5T initiative.
After the CM flagged off the buses today, 301 buses started plying in 1340 panchayats of five districts. This benefited more than 83 lakh people. While 44 buses plied benefitting 16.50 lakh people in 313 panchayats in Balangir district, 14.22 lakh people will be benefited in 243 panchayats in Bargarh where 60 buses will connect the pachayats with the Blocks. In Keonjhar, 25 buses plied in 158 panchayats and benefited 10.80 lakh people. In Mayurbhanj, 107 buses plied in 386 panchayats benefiting 24.20 lakh people. In Sundargarh, 65 buses plied in 240 panchayats benefiting 17.20 lakh people.
The programme was attended by 5T and Nabin Odisha Chairman VK Pandian.
Notably, Odisha Government has allocated Rs 1,191 Crore for the LAccMI scheme to facilitate assured and affordable transportation for people across the state. While Rs 656 Crore has been spent under the scheme so far, the Government allocated Rs 1,191 Crore more in the Vote-on-Account budget 2024-25.
