National
Earning a living using bicycles
After finishing her morning chores, Basanti Bista of Suda-8 immediately heads to Banbasa, a town across the border in India, on her bicycle.Bhawani Bhatta
Apparently, Bista had become a ‘carrier’ (a local term for people carrying goods on bicycle meant to be sold in the markets) after she started carrying goods from across the border on her bicycle and in order to sell them in Mahendranagar and adjoining marketplaces.
“I had taken up livestock farming for about four years after my husband’s death, but after being unable to earn a decent living through it I have been in the carrying business for the past four years,” Bista said.
However, Bista is just one among scores of women (especially single women and mothers) eking out a difficult living by selling tremendous variety of merchandise, ranging from foodstuffs and textiles to various other daily commodities. Very much like Bista, another woman named Laxmi said that she has been able to support her family and pay the school fees of her children through whatever little money she earns working as a ‘carrier’. According to her, each ‘carrier’ woman imports an average of three quintals of daily commodities and essentials from India everyday in order to sell them in the Nepali markets.
“After deducting customs charges and transport expenses, we save up to Rs 300-400 on a daily basis. However, there are days when we cannot even manage money for a square meal,” Laxmi said. Stating that they sell the goods and merchandise they bring from Banbasa mostly in Mahendranagar bazaar and nearby areas, Laxmi said sometime they even travel to Krishnapur market located 45 kilometres away to sell their goods. “Some carrier women have even purchased motorcycles to take the goods around market swiftly,” said Madhavi Bam of Daiji, hinting that some carriers have managed to earn a decent income through their work.
“Bicycle is the most popular means of transporting imported goods in the border,” said Chief of Gaddachowki Custom’s Office Ram Prasad Regmi, adding that approximately 600 quintals of goods and commodities cross the border into Nepal on 300 bicycles every day.
He further said that more than half of the total revenue collected by the custom’s office was from commodities carried on bicycle.