KATHMANDU: Victims of cooperatives, microfinance institutions, and loan sharks staged a sit-in near the President’s Office on Monday, expressing outrage over the government’s failure to implement previous agreements.
Organized under the National Campaign for Protection of Cooperative Depositors, the protest was triggered by the government’s inaction in addressing long-standing financial grievances. Although the protesters aimed to demonstrate directly in front of the President’s Office, police stopped them from entering the restricted zone.
The victims allege that despite repeated agreements, the government has failed to resolve issues affecting thousands of citizens who lost their savings due to mismanagement and fraud in cooperatives and microfinance institutions.
Many are also demanding the abolition of microfinance institutions, waiver of group loans, and an end to loan shark lending, which they say has driven borrowers into unbearable debt.
Protesters have vowed to continue their Kathmandu-based movement until the state takes concrete steps to address their demands.
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