Bhubaneswar, Sept. 11: The municipal corporation has asked the city bus service operator to put up boards at bus stops to inform people about provision of free travel concession and other facilities for visually challenged and disabled persons.
The officials of Dream Team Sahara (DTS) said they had been providing concession to disabled persons and would inform the Bhubaneswar Puri Transport Services Limited (BPTSL) - the government body managing the city bus service - about it.
Sources in the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) said that the court of state commissioner for persons with disabilities had passed an order regarding this on August 28 after hearing a complaint. The court instructed the corporation to take steps for installation of such awareness boards at all the bus stops so that the beneficiaries become aware of the facilities they can enjoy.
"We have requested the operator to take necessary steps for compliance of the order of the court as soon as possible and send a report to the court registrar about the steps taken," said a senior corporation official.
As there is no information available to passengers, especially disabled people, they fail to enjoy the concession facilities. An information will help sensitise them about the benefits.
However, the chief executive officer of DTS, Sudhanshu Jena, said they were providing the concession facilities to the people with disabilities and the bus employees have been instructed to follow the norms.
"When we see persons with disabilities we give them full concession. Whenever we see someone with partial disabilities, the staff check the certificates issued to them by the authorities concerned and give concessions accordingly," said Jena.
Stating that he has not seen the letter by the municipal corporation, Jena said: "When we receive the letter, we will inform BPTSL to take the final call regarding display of boards."
The officials of BPTSL also said that they were yet to receive any such communication. There are over 145 city buses plying in and around 21 routes in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Puri and Khurda and over 55,000 people enjoy the service on a regular basis.
