She and her husband, who is a driver, had thought life would be better in the city compared to the village. She even sold her jewelries for the admission of her children. But now the couple feels that life does not always turn out the way one expects and that things are beyond their control. [break]
"It is difficult choice but we have no option," said Aryal, adding, "With the limited earnings of my husband we cannot even buy the basic necessities."
She said that prices of all things have been rising drastically and the money her husband earns is insufficient to meet the daily needs.
Her husband makes around Rs 10,000 a month, which, she said, is not enough for five people to survive on in this costly city. Her family lives in a single room flat, for which they pay Rs 3,500 per month.
"Due to rise in the prices and our limited earning, we could not keep our children at a private school. So we admitted our children at a government school, where the quality of education is not very good," she said.
She complained that though things are getting more expensive, their income hasn´t increased.
"A kilo of tomato costs Rs 70, cauliflower Rs 90, the landlord increases rent every six month and demands the rent in advance. It is very hard to survive here," she complained. According to her priced of vegetables have tripled in recent months.
According to Aryal, her family´s living standard has deteriorated than in the village. They no longer can afford nutritious food.
"It is having a direct effect on my children´s health. They suffer from one diseases or other frequently," she said.
Aryal also feels that her husband has grown short-tempered over the years, which she blamed on stress caused by their limited income and rising expenditure.
“Life has become stressful in this city. So I have decided to move back to the village,” she said.
Narayan Shrestha of Makwanpur narrates a similar story. Shrestha has already sent his wife and children to their village. Shrestha, who worked as a salesman in an electronics shop at New Road, complained that with his limited earning he could not keep his wife and children in the capital. "Life is much hard for people like me in capital," he said. "It is difficult for a family to survive here with only one member´s earning."
He also said that getting a job in the capital is hard and even if one gets a job the salary is too low.
"The entire salary is used up in paying rent," he complained.
The rising prices have hit those in the lower middle class segment, like Aryal and Shrestha, quite hard.
Director of Department of Commerce (DoC), Hari Narayan Belbase said that he himself has to suffer when prices rise. "I wonder how the poor people have been surviving in this costly city," he said, adding, "Though both I and my wife work, we struggle to manage the rising expenses," he added. Belbase´s wife Jamuna is an officer at the National Planning commission.
He said that the government department he works in only monitors the quality of products and has no say over the prices. Director Belbase said that with the government adopting a free market policy, it has no control over the prices of even the basic items.
"Government is helpless before businessmen who have controlled the market," Ramchandra Simkhada, secretary of Forum for Protection of Consumer Rights, said. He blamed the businessmen for running syndicates, forming cartels and monopolizing the market, which has cause the inflation to soar.
"Due to corruption at policy making level, limited number of people have enjoyed control over the market. Some policy makers have been taking undue advantage of their position," Simkhada said. He said that entrepreneurs in this country are so strong that they can influence policies to suit their business.
"Officials are so corrupt that they deliberately look the other way when it comes to enforcing rules," he said.
The government´s market regulating agencies scrutinized 2,100 firms and shops last year, but they filed cases against only seven. "Most of the firms and entrepreneurs were found guilty but only seven companies were booked," he said.
Likewise, there are only few cases in which consumers have got justice, he said. "Existing laws on consumer rights are too weak," he added.
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Hari Narayan Belbase, Director, Department of Commerce
Juts like others I am also a consumer and inflation affects me in the same way it does others. I wonder about common people how they have been surviving in the capital. They toil hard but earn little. My wife is an officer at the National Planning Commission. We earn over Rs 30,000 each month but we have to struggle to meet the expanses.
I have to send money home for my parents´ medicines and pay my daughter´s school fee, apart from other regular expenses.
To be frank, irregularities is rampant in every sector. Entrepreneurs, parties and trade unions have become powerful than the state institutions. The state has lost control and is unable to control monopoly, cartels and syndicates that dominate every sector. State has surrendered before the powerful businessmen. The free market policy has failed to work in a fair manner in our country.
The government builds road, repairs it, but transport entrepreneurs have a monopoly over the transportation service. Farmers get little of what is being charged to end consumers like us. The middlemen have been taking undue advantages. The government has built vegetable market at Kalimati and set a reasonable rate as rent but the shopkeepers have to pay over 50,000 for each shutter.
You have seen how gold entrepreneurs, travel entrepreneurs, water entrepreneurs, and hoarding entrepreneurs took to the street after regulators tried to enforce the rules. Every time the government had to bow to their pressure.
Since we cannot take stern actions against them, it has boosted their confidence.
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