Fuel crisis, LPG scarcity, 50 hours of weekly load-shedding, strikes, bandhs, militant labour, death-attacks on businessmen, kidnapping for ransom….Is this the darkest hour before dawn or dead end of a tunnel? Will the resolution of Madhesi issue in the nick of time save the slipping economy? THT brings forth some of the concerns and suggestions of one of the captains of the industry.

The resolution of the Madhesi issue signifies only the end of a political imbroglio. It was just one of the several problems besetting Nepal. Chaos rules the country at the moment. One gets the feeling that this country is running without a government. Our key concerns of insecurity remains. The attack on Shashikant Agrawal has once again brought to the fore the vulnerability of the business community. There is total lawlessness in the country causing a general feeling of insecurity among the citizens.

The instability and Tarai unrest affected our image in the international market very badly. All our efforts of reviving international tourism have gone down the drains. Till now we had been holding on to the false assurances of the government that things would improve soon. But with all kinds of scarcities, fuel, electricity and LPG, hotels have been forced to shut down one by one. To add to all our troubles, is the growth of this militancy of labour. Instead of understanding the problems, the labour force of almost every organisation is indulging illegal activities like strikes and dharnas. I do not see any light at the end of the tunnel. With government focussed only on addressing political issues, ignoring plight of the people, there seems to be no reprieve in sight for us.