The Location Accessible Multi-modal Initiative (LAccMI) affordable bus service launched by the previous BJD government last year has incurred heavy losses since its launch.
If the statement given by the transport Minister Bibhuti Bhusan Jena in the Assembly on Thursday is any indication, the subsidised mode of conveyance for giving a boost to rural connectivity has come a cropper in the wake of cumulative loss.
Though the state government spent Rs 399.12 crore on plying 1,340 buses across the state under LAccMI scheme from October 2023 to August 2024, income of only Rs 25,03,86,585 has been generated. Thus Rs 374 crore losses have been incurred during the period.
The buses were procured from eight agencies that were based outside the State.
After the BJP came to power for the first time in the State, it renamed several schemes implemented by the previous government. Accordingly, the bus service has renamed the scheme as ‘Mukhyamantri Bus Seva’.
The LAccMI buses launched by the previous government aimed at facilitating local conveyance in the rural suburbs of the districts with a fare of Rs 5 for women and students. A total of 1,354 buses plied in 30 districts benefitting 3.64 crore people in 6,031 panchayats across the State. However following heavy losses, the new government was forced to withdraw the service from specific routes where commuters’ footfall was on the lower side