Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday inaugurated 20 newly constructed bus stands in 13 districts under the ‘Ama Bus Stand’ scheme. These districts are Angul, Balasore, Boudh, Dhenkanal, Gajapati, Kendrapada, Keonjhar, Koraput, Nayagarh, Nuapada, Rayagada, Sambalpur, and Subaranpur.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said, “Communication is the basis of development. It is the main strength of our economy. Our goal is to improve the communication system from village to city. 5T initiative is developing our communication infrastructure and public transport system. The village is being connected to the block under Lakshmi Yojana.” He said that the metro rail plan has been started in Bhubaneswar, if the communication is improved, the farmers will benefit and the children’s education will be facilitated.
Highlighting the ‘Ama Bus Stand’ scheme, the Chief Minister further said that the new bus stands will be gradually developed as business hubs and this will also increase economic activities. He further said that it is necessary to strengthen public transport infrastructure as well as sensitise people so that they can use this public transport system extensively. He said that attention should be paid to the safety of people at the new bus stands along with proper maintenance of the common facilities available there.
State Commerce and Transport Minister Tukuni Sahu, Minister for Planning and Coordination Rajendra Dholakia, Minister for Scheduled Tribes and Castes Development Jagannath Saraka, and State Forest, Environment and Climate Change Minister Pradeep Kumar participated in the programme in different districts. Public transport has been facilitated through the new Ama Bus Stand and these bus stands are a milestone in the transport service sector of the state, he said.
The programme was coordinated by 5T and Nabin Odisha Chairman VK Pandian. Speaking on the occasion, Pandian said that bus stands play an important role in creating the identity of a city. These bus stands are your property. He requested everyone to maintain them properly. Along with this, he provided information about the various developmental projects undertaken by the state government under the 5T initiative in various regions.
Anant Das, Vograi MLA, Raghuram Padal, Similiguda, and Padmanav Behera, Birmaharajpur MLA, joined the programme and said that the problems faced by common people in the transit system have been solved by the new bus stand scheme.
Armil Edla, a resident of Nuagadh district, and Lucky Sahu, a 3rd student of Harichandanpur in Keonjhar district, narrated their experiences and said that the Chief Minister has built such bus stands for them that can only be seen in big cities. “We are very happy and grateful for this,” they said, adding, “The Lakshmi bus yojana has solved the problem of going to schools and colleges for many students like me and it is a great gift for students from poor families.”
Principal Secretary, Department of Commerce and Transport, Usha Padhi delivered the welcome address and CMD of OSRTC Diptesh Patnaik gave the vote of thanks.
