Bhubaneswar: In a hardening of stand
towards the striking bus operators in Orissa, the governemnt
on Monday decided to impose the Essential Services Maintenance Act
(ESMA) as lakhs of commuters were inconvenienced in the
continuing strike which entered the fifth day.
"The government decided to invoke ESMA today as the
bus strike cannot be allowed to continue", Chief Minister
Naveen Patnaik told reporters here.
Observing the strike caused hardship to people in the
state, Patnaik said there was no option left for the
government but to take the ESMA route as the bus operators
were refusing to call off the stir.
"The state government cannot accept bus operators`
demand to give subsidy to take care of toll fee imposed by the
NHAI", Transport Secretary P K Jena said adding that the
association will have to face the consequences if they did not
immediately withdraw the strike.
"There is no point in giving subsidy to the bus
operators on this ground," Jena said.
Meanwhile, lakhs of commuters were stranded as buses
went off the road and the bus owners` association sticking to
their demands.
The strike, initially confined only to National
Highway - 5 and NH-5 (A) on October one, was extended to the
entire state later.
Bureau Report
