“We are Rima and Ganesh Adhikari, a couple as old as 70 years, residing in Baneshwor. We run a clothing business here on the sidewalk of Baneshwor street. We have been doing this for almost 25 years now. Our son and his family live together with us. The street business is all we have to pay the house rent and make a living.
We were swept away from our hometown Bhojpur after the Maoist insurgency took over. We came to Kathmandu and found out we didn’t have enough skills to earn a livelihood any other way. Started with a handful of clothes, now we have been quite established in the business of the streets. It feels tiring to continue each day at this age but we have no other options.
Permission is not easily given to set up our stalls in all of our feasible time. The shop owners selling the same items as us but at higher prices can’t stand us and demand the police to get rid of us. That has made us constantly run away with our things and again settle back in no time. The only relieving thing is we don’t have to pay the taxes but the officials of the metropolis collect 2000 to 8000 rupees in the Dashain season.
Students in schools and colleges feel grateful for businesses like ours because many of us have budget restraints. That’s why it is important to promote affordable consumer service like this. We wish for better management for people like us who can’t afford much and are laboring with whatever we can day in and day out.”