Local people were persuaded to invest in a rural electrification project, which benefited almost 50,000 households in Kailali and Kanchanpur districts, after taking loans from the NEA. [break]
The NEA had provided Rs 170 million to 126 cooperatives formed by the local people after the grant provided by the Denmark government fell short for the project. Local cooperatives agreed to take loans from the NEA fearing that project would not be completed.
"We were misled to sign the deal then. We can not pay off the loans," said Krishna Bahadur Khatri, chairman of Rural Electricity Cooperatives´ Association.
"We are now facing the double trouble," said Kamala Devi, a resident of Chaumala village-2, who participated in the protest rally. "We have to pay Rs 300-400 as electricity tariffs. Yet, we have to spend extra money to buy kerosene. Besides, we still owe debts to the NEA. This is why I came out to join the protest program."
About 10,000 people from five villages of Kailali, mostly rural women, blocked the east-west highway for one hour before gathering for a protest assembly. They threatened to launch an indefinite strike from January 19 if the NEA failed to meet their demands.
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