Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday launched the Laxmi Bus Scheme in Balasore, Jagatsinghpur, Ganjam, Nuapada, and Boudh districts through video conferencing. On this occasion, the Chief Minister said that Lakshmi Bus will make social and cultural programmes more effective in all the villages and will bring economic growth. Villagers can go about their daily activities conveniently and at a low cost by using the Lakshmi Bus. “Lakshmi Bus will make our life journey easier”, he said. Today, 255 buses operated in 1,057 panchayats of five districts and benefited more than 71 lakh people. While 48 buses were run in 315 panchayats of Balasore district benefitting 20.42 lakh people benefited, 25 buses were run in 123 panchayats of Nuapada benefitting 5.74 lakh. In Boudh, 10 buses were run in 55 panchayats benefitting 3.53 lakh people and 130 buses ran in 433 panchayats of Ganjam benefiting 34.47 lakh people. Similarly, 42 buses were run in 131 panchayats of Jagatsinghpur, and 7.50 lakh people benefited. Currently, Lakshmi buses have started operating in all 30 districts of Odisha from Wednesday. Altogether 1,354 buses are running in 30 districts benefiting 3.64 crore people of 6,031 panchayats. It is worth noting that a total of 1,745 buses will run in all the panchayats of the state.In this scheme, bus service from the panchayat to the block has been facilitated. This programme has been launched under the 5T initiative and Mission Shakti Mothers have been given the responsibility of driving the bus.
Addressing the people on this occasion, the Chief Minister further said, “I respect the wishes of the people. All the programmes of my government are based on people’s opinions. Lakshmi Yojana has also been implemented on the will of the people. After the 5T Chairman and CMO officials’ district visits, we understood the problems of the people and prepared the Laxmi Bus Yojana to solve the communication problems of the people in the village,” said the Chief Minister.He further said, “We aim to make panchayat the center of development. We aim to strengthen the economy of the village and Lakshmi Bass will play an important role in it.”Referring to the recently launched Sri Jagannath Express bus service under this scheme, the Chief Minister said that the Sri Jagannath Express bus service has been started for the darshan of Mahaprabhu Sri Jagannath and to experience the Srimandir Parikrama project. He added that the fare of the bus service has been halved for women.Saying that the Naveen Odisha programme aims at the transformation of the villages, the Chief Minister wished for everyone’s cooperation to build a new Odisha. Highlighting the Laxmi Bus service, the Chief Minister said that the Laxmi Bus will connect people to people. It will strengthen social and economic life, take children to schools and colleges, and connect farmers to their markets. He said that mothers and students can travel in these buses for only Rs 5. The Chief Minister thanked all the departments, public representatives, and common people related to the Lakshmi Bus service.Transport Minister Tukuni Sahu, who was present at Boudh, said that Lakshmi Bus will bring prosperity to every home, helping children in their studies and helping families to prosper. 5T and Nabin Odisha Chairman VK Pandian coordinated the programme and said that the feedback received from his visits to the district was to improve the mobility of people in rural areas. Accordingly, he had discussions with the district officials on May 9, 2023. After this, Lakshmi Bus was first started in Malkangari on October 12. As of today, 95% of panchayats of all the 30 districts are included in it. He further said, “Lakshmi Bus is our property – the property of Odisha. Maintain it properly.”
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