DHANUSHA: Reminding Prime Minister Balendra Shah (Balen) of his campaign trail promise that citizens would “no longer need to go to Kathmandu to demand your rights, only go there to visit Pashupati or Swayambhu,” nearly 500 loan shark victims launched a foot march from Tirahutia Gachhi to the federal capital on Thursday, protesting the government’s inaction during its first 100 days in office.

Since he was aware of the problems like loan sharking, locally known as ‘Meter Byaj,’ seen in the Terai-Madhesh region, his promise was to resolve it by keeping it under high priority after the government was formed.

However, stating that the government has not walked the path of resolving the problem even after completing 100 days of its formation, loan shark victims have set out on a march towards Kathmandu from Tirahutia Gachhi today to draw attention. Around 500 victims from various districts, including the Terai-Madhesh region, are participating in the march.

Loan shark victims embark on their third justice march, traveling on foot from Janakpur to Kathmandu

“We do not know at what moment our house and land will be auctioned or when an arrest warrant will arrive,” says one victim participating in the march. “We are living in fear every day. That is why we are going to Kathmandu to remind the Prime Minister of his promise.”

Stories of exploitation

Sarvajit Raya of Janakpurdham Sub-Metropolitan City-4 is one of those experiencing the pain of loan sharking. He claims that although he took a loan of around Rs 1.3 million from a moneylender, he had to pay over Rs 2.2 million within two years while continuously paying the interest. He states that even after paying the money, instead of giving a receipt, a transaction lawsuit was filed against him in court. According to him, while taking the money, the moneylender had created three promissory notes (deed of agreement/bond) in the names of his wife and relatives.

“They take the money when it is time to take it, but they do not provide a receipt,” Raya says, “Later, the house and land are auctioned after making a low evaluation. This is the story of many loan shark victims just like me.”

Phulo Kapar of Mithila Bihari Municipality-7 in Dhanusha had taken around Rs 150,000 to send her husband for foreign employment. She says that since there was the hassle of collateral and paperwork processes in financial institutions, she took the money from a moneylender upon the advice of a person in the village.

A grief-stricken Shyama Devi Thakur, whose husband was killed in an attack by a loan shark

She claims that when she tried to pay Rs 200,000 a few years later, the moneylender refused to accept the amount. She states that after her husband returned from Kuwait due to illness, she tried to pay off the loan by combining her husband’s earnings and the money she saved from manual labor, but she could not pay because the moneylender demanded Rs 400,000. After that, she states that she has been facing the lawsuit filed by the moneylender.

“Even food is a problem. My husband is sick, and money is needed for medical treatment,” Kapar says, “On top of that, there is torture from the moneylender. Who will listen to the words of us poor people?”

Kushmi Devi Malik Dole of Janakpurdham Sub-Metropolitan City-16, Kapileshwar, is enduring a similar problem. She had borrowed Rs 200,000 from a moneylender for her daughter’s marriage. She repeatedly tried to repay the loan from the money earned by her husband from foreign employment. She claims that even when she went with Rs 600,000 first and Rs 700,000 later, the moneylender refused to accept the amount. After that, she alleges that the moneylender filed a lawsuit and had 152.38 square meters of land and a homestead plot located in her maternal village auctioned.

Kushmi Devi Malik Dole

“I am ready to pay off the loan even now,” she said. “But the moneylenders refuse to accept the money. Their intentions are dishonest; they are simply waiting for the agreement of the promissory note to expire so they can seize my land.”

The pain of Rajkumari Giri of Kachuri, Mithila Bihari Municipality-7, located in Dhanusha Dham, is also similar. She had taken Rs 250,000 from a village moneylender to send her son for foreign employment. She states that when she went to return the loan with Rs 700,000 after three years, the moneylender refused to accept the money.

Currently, Giri states that a notice has arrived through the court to auction the land and vacate the house. Stating that a situation has arisen where she must leave the 1,693.14 square meters of land accumulated through hard work, she says, “They do not take the money even when we try to give it. Where will we go after our house and land are snatched? I have even stopped enjoying food. If that same homestead plot accumulated through hard work is gone, where will our shelter be?”

Rajkumari Devi

“No justice, no return”

Against the tyranny of loan shark moneylenders, the victims had previously also walked to Kathmandu and staged a sit-in at Maitighar Mandala to draw the government’s attention. Agreements were also made with the government multiple times. However, the victims claim that the problem has not been resolved.

“How many times should we run to Kathmandu carrying this same problem?” says Rajkumari Giri, who is participating in the march. “This time I will not return with false assurances. I do not have the courage to return home carrying this same pain without the problem being resolved.”

Remembering the promise made by Prime Minister Shah in Tirahutia Gachhi, she says, “He had said, ‘Make me win, I want to work. I will resolve your problems.’ “The government was formed, but our sorrow remains the same. On the contrary, lawsuits have increased in offices and courts.”

Saraswati Mishra, a leader of the campaign against loan sharking in Nepal, complains that the government, which came with the slogan of change, has also not taken serious initiatives to resolve the victims’ problems. “We are marching to Kathmandu for the third time with hope,” Mishra says, “This time we want justice, not assurances. May the government not send us back disappointed again.”

Mishra argues that the problem has failed to be resolved because loan sharking has been understood merely as a general financial transaction.

“Loan sharking is not just an economic transaction; it is financial feudalism and mental violence inflicted upon the poor,” she says, “For its permanent solution, banking access must be made easy in rural areas, and strict legal action must be taken against the criminals.”

Opening ceremony of the third loan shark victims’ justice foot march from Janakpur to Kathmandu

Awadhish Kushwaha, the leader of the movement, states that more victims from various districts will join as the journey moves forward. He states that after reaching Kathmandu, they will hold a sit-in program and demand an immediate solution from the government. “We have started the movement. Other friends will keep joining on the way,” Kushwaha says, “every time an agreement is made but it is not implemented. For this very reason, the problem remains exactly as it was. This time we request the government not to do so.”

Since many victim families are facing displacement, lawsuits, and mental stress due to the pressure from moneylenders, he has urged the government to resolve the problem immediately. “If the government does not become serious even now, we will be forced to launch a more powerful protest,” he says.