Lumbini. Madika Lonia, 55, is preparing for her daughter’s wedding on Baisakh 5. But there is no joy on her face. She is in pain and worry as the Rs. 600,000 collected from the Shri Gautam Buddha Swavalamban Savings and Loan Cooperative Society is not being returned on time.
As the cooperative society’s office has been locked for almost a month, small businessmen, farmers, and the elderly have faced financial problems in their families. Some people do not have the means to pay for their daughter’s wedding, some have run out of regular medicines, and some are in a state of uncertainty about emergency expenses. Nandalal Chauhan of Sammarimai Rural Municipality-6 is also in a similar pain. Her daughter’s wedding is scheduled for Baisakh this year. But she has also become helpless as she has not received the money she deposited in the cooperative.
She says, “We had saved for necessities, but we have not been able to withdraw our own money.” In the same ward, Nandalal Chauhan’s father Budhu Chauhan had also deposited Rs 50,000 of his pension in the same cooperative. He had planned to withdraw that amount for his granddaughter’s wedding expenses. He says, “Now it seems that even that plan will remain incomplete.” Chhotelal Lohar, a resident of Asuraina, sought help from relatives for his daughter’s wedding. But most of the relatives have the same answer, “I am in need, I am deeply hurt by not getting back the money I saved by trusting the cooperative at such a time.”
Fruit trader Binod Barma had been saving Rs. 500 daily for a year for his daughter’s wedding. Now, as the wedding approaches, the money he has saved has become uncertain. Similarly, Rajkumar Kewat used to rely on his savings to buy medicines regularly. But now Rs. 150,000 is stuck. He says, “This has posed a risk not only to the cooperative, but also to his health.”
The controversy began on February 26, 2081, when the board of directors suspended the manager and office assistant of the cooperative. After the dispute reached the court, the Tulsipur Butwal Bench of the High Court has issued a short-term order to show cause and maintain the suspension decision as it is. As a result, all services, including withdrawal of savings, taking loans and paying interest, are at a standstill.
Deepchandra Murau, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Gautam Buddha Swavalamban Savings and Loan Cooperative Society, said, “The case is pending in the court. Until the court decides, the services cannot be resumed. The disruption in the cooperative’s services has put hundreds of savers in difficulty. This has not only caused financial distress, but has also increased social and mental stress. The closure of the cooperative’s services has affected the lives of the villagers. Savings made for marriage, treatment and emergency expenses are now locked behind closed doors.”
Taulan Kewat, Ward Chairman of Sammarimai-6, said that if the cooperative’s service flow is not resumed, public trust in the cooperative may be lost forever. The savers have only one question, “When we saved with trust, there is nothing left after it did not support us in times of disaster. If the regulatory body of the cooperative, the concerned municipality and even the court do not intervene seriously, not only the economic crisis but also the fear of social crisis will increase.”
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