With his shop mostly remaining closed during the recent protests in Madhes, he has not been able to earn enough to pay off the money owed to several people, said Jayaswal.
“The wholesaler refuses to supply new clothing items until I pay for the last stock,” Jayaswal said. According to him, customers do not purchase old clothes.
“No one asked me for payments during the protests. Now, both the bank and the wholesalers have been asking me for payments time and again,” Jayawal said.
He added that, although the bank and the wholesalers were fully aware of the set back businesses suffered during the protests, they are in no mood to wait any longer to collect the payments.
Many small and middle-ranked traders like Jayaswal have been facing similar problem even after the resumption of business in Madhes.
According to Sunil Kumar Mahato, president of Siraha Chamber of Commerce and Industries, a large number of small and medium businesses are on the verge of collapse.
“They have been able to neither collect the dues nor pay off bank interests,” Mahato said.
Hotel Maruti in Lahan remained shut for six months during the protests. The hotel suffered heavily after protesters smashed all its glass windows, according to hotelier Ram Sundar Chaudhary. The hotel incurred a revenue loss of Rs 3 million during the Madhes protest, Chaudhary said.
Bus operators are among the hardest hit in terms of damage to business. Around 259 buses operated by Sagarmatha Zone Bus Entrepreneurs Association stayed off the road for six months.
The association's chairman Hari Narayan Yadav said that the night buses continued to make money but the day-bus entrepreneurs were hit hard during the protests.
The bus entrepreneurs under the association faced a combined loss of around Rs 40 million.
It will take at least two years to recover the loss, chairman Yadav informed.
A bus entrepreneur has to pay interest amounts ranging from Rs 20,000 to Rs 50,000 per month to the bank, according to him.
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