A delegation representing the private sector met with Prime Minister Sushil Koirala on Tuesday and urged him to take the lead in resolving the unofficial blockade by India and the unrest in the Tarai.

The ongoing turmoil can be concluded if the Prime Minister takes a concrete step, said representatives of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) and Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) after submitting a memorandum to the Prime Minister.

The team marched from Bhatbhateni to Prime Minister Koirala’s official residence at Baluwatar as a symbolic protest against the prevailing fuel scarcity in the country.

The private sector is worried about the losses incurred by businesses due to the Tarai banda that has lasted almost two months and the unofficial blockade of Nepal by India which has left many goods including petroleum products stranded on the Indian side of the border.

The FNCCI has said that the country’s economy lost more than Rs100 billion during the long-running banda as industrial and trading activities have come to a complete halt.  

The protests in the Tarai belt have lasted 50 days, while the blockade has crossed two weeks, creating spiralling effects on the country’s fragile economy while it was trying to recover from the devastating effect of the April 25 earthquake.

According to the private sector bodies, the government should launch informal talks with the agitating Tarai-based political parties and form a high-level talks team to deliver a result at the earliest possible.

They are of the view that allowing the situation to continue during Dashain, the biggest festival in the country, would anger the people and the situation might deteriorate. So the government should work rapidly to resolve the issues, it said.

“This is one of the most crucial times in the country’s history. The political leadership should seriously take the initiative to save the country’s future,” the joint statement reads.

It also said that the financial losses incurred by the private sector were much higher than from the April 25 earthquake and aftershocks. “We have been almost paralyzed. If this situation continues, the country will witness a dreadful situation,” it said.  

The private sector bodies have also urged the government to assure the right of the people to live freely and create a conducive environment for businesses to operate.

“Our repeated appeals to the ruling political parties, opposition parties and those leading the Tarai protests to come to a logical conclusion have failed,” they said. “Hence, we urge the political leadership to act as soon as possible.”

The private sector bodies said that they had supported the political leadership in every possible way to promulgate a new constitution, and that the never-ending political unrest in the Tarai had discouraged them.