Indore: In order to promote public transport and discourage use of private vehicles, district administration and municipal officers and employees will now use city buses and other public means to reach office every Friday.
The brainchild of collector Lokesh Jatav, the initiative was implemented from November 15 when Jatav, IMC commissioner Asheesh Singh along with senior officers used public transport to reach to their offices.
Jatav and Singh walked till GPO Square from their houses in Residence area and boarded i-bus to reach Bhawarkuan. From Bhawarkuan, they boarded city buses to reach their offices. During the travel, they also talked to passengers and took their feedback on quality of public transport in the city.
Speaking about the initiative, Jatav said “I got inspiration for this initiative from people of Indore. People of Indore support all initiatives which are in the interest of their city and its people.”
He stated the purpose of him and other senior officials travelling in public transport was aimed at creating atmosphere.
“For doing something new, you have to create atmosphere for it. Travelling in public transport by us (officers) on Friday was aimed at creating that atmosphere,” the collector said.
He stated that their move was also aimed at shattering the belief that use of public transport is associated with status symbol.
“If you are using public transport, it does mean that you don't have your own car or vehicle,” he said.
He stated that the administration is going to improve quality of public transport so that well-off families also use public transport without any hesitation.
Singh said that it’s a nice initiative by the collector as one of the biggest problems of Indore is traffic congestion. “Use of public transport will reduce number of private vehicles on road and check pollution also,” he added.
Jatav appealed to hospitals, colleges and other private organizations to encourage their staff into using public transport to reach office at least for a day in a week.
