"I used to earn around Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 per month. But I have not been able to work after the protests intensified," said Sah. "Nobody calls me to work in their farms. Being the sole breadwinner of my family, now I'm having difficulties feeding my children and elderly parents. We couldn't even celebrate Dashain and Tihar festivals properly," he added.Similar is the plight of Ram Chandra Mahato, a city rickshaw puller in Lahan. "I borrowed loans from a bank to buy rickshaw. But now that I am without work, I will have to borrow more loan to pay interest and clear the loan," he said. "I pull my rickshaw around the city for whole day, but return home empty-handed in lack of passengers."
Expressing frustration over the current situation of the country, Mahato urged the government to work seriously for resolving the problem. "The protests have already crossed 100 days. Poor people are facing lots of hardships. Now it's high time the government got serious to resolve the problem," he said.
It's not just laborers, similar is the plight of shopkeepers and traders. "I have not been able to pay my rent for the past three months. If the protests continue, people like us will suffer more. I don't know how to pay the rent," said Santosh Sah, a shopkeeper, in Lahan market.
"Very soon, most of us will have to rely on loans for making our ends meet. If the situation does not improve then the govenrment should make arrangements for interest-free loans," he added.
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