Odisha govt rolls out 'LAccMI' amid fierce attack from Opposition 

The Odisha government on Thursday launched the bus service under the location accessible multimodal initiative (LAccMI) scheme. 
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated buses under the scheme from Malkangiri district. A fleet of 36 buses was launched in the first phase. 

As per the plan, in the coming days, these buses will ply between Panchayats and Blocks and Panchayats and Capital city. And after Malkangiri, the service will also be extended to Koraput, Rayagada, Nabarangpur, Kalahandi and Gajapati districts. 

Meanwhile, the Opposition BJP has launched a fierce attack on the BJD-led government. 

Referring to the use of party’s conch symbol on the buses, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stalwart and Leader of Opposition (LoP) Jayanarayan Mishra took aim at the government and said, “The party and the government have become one for many days now. Earlier, it was a secret. Now it is open. The IAS officers who should have been impartial are working on the basis of the party. Then what should we think? Here the government is working like a party.”

“None starting from a peon to an IAS officer is working honestly. In the past, the allegations we were raising against the IAS officers that they are working for the government has been proved,” he said. 

When asked about the use of party symbol, Mishra said, “They have been using the party symbol in government advertisements. Action should be taken against this. As no action is being taken against them, they are becoming more obdurate.”

When asked about the solution, Mishra said, “People should root out and throw this government away. In a democracy, people are all in all.”

When sought his reaction on why the State Election Commissioner is silent, Mishra said, “Who is the State Election Commissioner? A secretary of a department is the Election commissioner. What should be expected from him? We the 22 MLAs are going to Delhi. The date is yet to be fixed. There we will meet the Chief Election Commissioner, the Prime Minister, the Home Minister and the Party President and make them aware of how things are going on here (in Odisha). We also seek the President’s intervention.”

“The Central government is providing buses under several schemes. The government should make plans accordingly. Instead of doing that, the government is using private party’s buses. As I was the minister of this department, I knew the number of buses in the state was negligible as compared to the population. Most villagers are deprived of bus services. I wish to know how many panchayat headquarters can be connected with these LAccMI buses?” he added.