E-Kantipur

BIRATNAGAR, MAR 11 - Only one factory is operating in the once bustling Mills Area in Biratnagar as a result of the government's inappropriate policies and gross political interference.

Raghupati Jute Mill is the only one left in the Mills Area where a decade ago rows of factories hummed incessantly. 

The country's oldest factory Biratnagar Jute Mill was forced to close last year after it was turned into a recruitment centre for cadres of political parties. A host of factories have shut their doors over the past couple of years for the same reason. More than 10,000 workers are out of a job with factories shutting down one after another.

Ganapati Cotton Mill, Morang Sugar Mill, Shah Industry, Ashok Textile, Koshi Metal, Arunodoya Steel, Morang Auto Workshop, Birat Workshop, Everest Indus-tries, Guhyeshwori Solvent and other companies have been closed.

The Juddha Match Factory is operating partially. It is in poor health due to a shortage of raw materials and incapability to compete with Indian products.

"The government's vague industrial policy and inability to compete with Indian products have put factories in dire straits," said Jagdish Prasad Rathi, central member of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI). He added that people who didn't have the faintest idea about industry had endorsed the current industrial policy.

Bad government policy and short-sightedness combined with problems like political instability, interference by trade unions, shortage of raw materials, insecurity and load-shedding have made life hard for the industrial sector, Rathi said.

After the establishment of Nepal's first factory in 1938, manufacturing plants began mushrooming in the Mills Area. Factories processing agricultural products started coming up at a rapid pace in the beginning.

"After private industrialists began investing in export-oriented sectors, the industrial zone saw a boom with diverse factories being built and it was named Mills Area," said a senior citizen Bharat Kumar Shrestha.

With the Mills Area now becoming near deserted, small shops and hotels serving the factory workers have seen a drastic drop

in their business. "Our daily customers have decreased significantly," said Bishwalal Shrestha, a shopkeeper who has been operating here for the last 45 years.

Posted on: 2010-03-11 09:07

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