Bhubaneswar: Members of Odisha Private Bus Owners’ Association held a meeting with Commerce and Transport Department Minister Tukuni Sahuhere on Sunday to discuss the fate of the strike announced scheduled from July 1 onwards.
According to reports, the Minister has requested bus owners to abstain from strike as the Rath Yatra is approaching. “The Chief Minister is outside the country. Let him return and a decision would be taken on your demands,” Sahoo said, quoting the Minister.
The Association has demanded that the government must withdraw its decision to hand over the process of issuing bus permits to a third parties. The bus owners demanded sanction of permanent route permit to the private buses and withdrawal of the decision on high-security registration number.
They also took objection to the delay in construction of National Highway (NH) 55 from Cuttack to Sambalpur, not making any provision for passengers’ waiting kiosk on the NH and not taking steps on granting loans to bus owners who sustained loss during COVID pandemic.
