Finance
Under the “Ama Bus Stand” scheme, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated 20 recently built bus stops in 13 districts on Thursday. These districts include Koraput, Nayagarh, Nuapada, Rayagada, Sambalpur, Subaranpur, Angul, Balasore, Boudh, Dhenkanal, Gajapati, Kendrapada, Keonjhar, and Koraput.
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.
VK Pandian, the chairman of Nabin Odisha, and 5T oversaw the program. Speaking during the event, Pandian asserted that bus stops are crucial to a city’s identity formation. These bus stops belong to you. He asked everyone to take good care of them. In addition, he gave details about the several regional development initiatives that the state government was working on as part of the 5T plan.
Anant Das, the MLA for Vograi; Raghuram Padal, the MLA for Similiguda; and Padmanav Behera, the MLA for Birmaharajpur, all attended the program and stated that the new bus stand scheme had resolved the issues that the general public was having with the transit system.
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.
