Kathmandu, August 31 :

22 small entrepreneurs who had been running various industries in Bardiya district with the help of small loans from Rastriya Banijya Bank (RBB) branch office, Gulariya are now facing serious financial difficulties to sustain their business and have been compelled to shut down their operations.

In this regard, a three-member delegation from the 22-member business group headed by Aatma Ram Thapa submitted a list of demands to prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala and major political parties, urging them to give additional loans for a smooth operation of their businesses and interest rebate and canceling ‘capitalization penalty’ on the earlier loans. Other members of the delegation are Naresh Rana and Bal Krishna Acharya.

Aatma Ram Thapa, leader of the delegation, while talking to The Himalayan Times said that all the 22 industries have already closed down, thanks to conflict, political instability, strikes, blockades and double taxation from the government and the Maoists. Despite our requests to the lender to adopt a liberal policy for the repayment of loans, the bank management has not paid any serious heed which has forced entrepreneurs to stop operations, Thapa alleged.

With the country’s overall business sector taking a beating, small entrepreneurs also could not remain in isolation, said Thapa, pointing out at clumsy business climate for years. The issues of donations, double taxation, physical actions and threatens have made us victims, according to the letter prepared by the ‘Association of the Victims of Loan Consumers of Bardiya’.

Entrepreneurs are hopeful that after the restoration of Loktantra, they will restart their business with the help of the Nepal government, says the memorandum.

When asked to Sudarshan Raj Pandey, chief operating officer of RBB-central office

reform management team about the initiatives taken to rescue small borrowers, he replied, “The bank has, as per the announcement in the budget for the fiscal year 2006-07, started taking initiatives to give relief to ‘small borrowers’ by giving rebate on interests,” Pandey added.

The Association of the Victims of Loan Consumers of Bardiya has also demanded to send borrowers’ family members for foreign employment as the government has already set aside a 10 per cent quota of the total seats in foreign employment to ease financial difficulties of small borrowers.

One of the major demands is that some sick industries have to be injected with fresh loans to revive.

Some of the sick industries are Kisan Galla Center, Rice MIlls, Jeewan Masala Udyog, Acharya Khadya Suppliers, Shree Krishna Materials Udyog, Bimal Traders, Mansuk Traders, Chandrama Kiran and Galla Store, Sitala Fancy Stores, Regmi Traders and Santosh Grill Udyog.