By Narayan Prasad Mishra
Compared to many countries in Asia, Europe, and America, our nation lags in many respects. A large portion of our population lives below the poverty line. There is no shortage of people struggling to afford even basic food and clothing. Problems related to clean drinking water and healthcare are equally severe. In some parts of the country, people are forced to risk their lives crossing rivers in makeshift wooden boxes suspended on ropes because even simple suspension bridges are unavailable. There are still villages where people must traverse steep hills in harsh weather, relying only on narrow foot trails, to sustain their daily lives. Due to the lack of transportation, many communities are compelled to walk for hours. Moreover, because of the lack of employment opportunities in the country, Nepalis are forced to leave their homeland and use their strength, knowledge, experience, and skills in foreign lands, serving others instead of contributing to their own nation—this is both a compulsion and a misfortune.
The government of any country is expected to promote development in a way that ensures the welfare of all citizens and provides them with basic comforts and opportunities. However, in our country, despite more than three decades of democracy and republican governance, what has been imposed instead of democracy is party rule and leader-centric rule. Corruption, nepotism, favoritism, and misgovernance have become deeply entrenched, with leaders nurturing only themselves, their relatives, and close associates. As a result, the condition of our country has deteriorated without limit. There are countless tasks that the Balen Government must undertake to establish good governance—immediate action against corrupt individuals, removal of constitutional and legal provisions that sustain corruption, formulation of new laws and regulations necessary for good governance, and execution of development works that ensure public welfare.
Among these issues, one of the most pressing is the injustice faced by nearly 7.5 million citizens—almost one-thirds of the country’s population—who have been defrauded by savings and cooperative institutions that flourished during this period. These institutions, operated through deception and manipulation by leaders and cadres of political parties, must be dealt with without delay. The fraudulent operators should be punished, and their assets—extending up to three generations—should be seized and auctioned so that depositors’ savings can be returned as quickly as possible.
In this context, the government led by Balen Shah of the Rastriya Swatantra Party has, upon its formation, immediately presented a 100-point governance reform agenda to the public. This is a matter of great satisfaction for all and is highly commendable and welcome. It indicates that the government is preparing a hopeful roadmap and implementation plan for good governance.
According to a news report published in Kantipur on April 1, 2026, there are only 15 thousand savings and credit cooperative organizations in existence out of 32 thousand cooperative organizations registered in the country. It is well known that various saving and credit cooperative organizations in the country operated much like banks, attracting the public by offering higher interest rates and collecting billions of rupees through fixed deposits and savings accounts. However, these institutions were set up to deceive the public by showing artificial profits and losses. People, unaware of this reality, trusted them as legitimate, government-authorized institutions similar to banks and deposited their hard-earned money. The depositors were in no way aware that they were being forced to concern themselves with these organizations’ losses and gains, as they were only depositors, not shareholders.
In reality, the operators of these organizations—who were connected to political leaders and party networks—misused the funds by violating laws and regulations. They embezzled deposits through various fraudulent schemes, issued unsecured loans at will, and ultimately caused these institutions to collapse. On one hand, they used these funds to build industries, mansions, and large infrastructures, becoming billionaires. On the other hand, they created situations showing that the institutions had no funds, thereby swallowing the public’s savings and leaving 7.5 million people in despair and helplessness.
Even more troubling, it is said that legal provisions have been crafted in such a way that these fraudsters can escape punishment, and even if they are forced to repay, they are only required to return the principal amount—not the interest. This means victims are deprived of the rightful returns on their savings.
At the same time, it is widely discussed that these fraudulent operators, using their wealth, property, and vast cash and material resources—worth billions—and leveraging their power, influence, and connections, have been able to place or include disguised agents and officials across all relevant bodies in the country. These include ministries, departments, provincial governments, the Problematic Cooperative Management Committee, cooperative victims’ struggle committees, cooperative unions and federations, and other such institutions. Through them, they directly or indirectly advocate for themselves, harming victims in the process. It is also said that even legal experts and lawyers representing such institutions are among those involved.
Furthermore, once fraud cases involving cooperative funds are filed, there is a provision that the principal amount need not be repaid with interest. Because of this, if a fraudulent cooperative operator who has collected, say, 10 billion rupees can delay the court’s decision for 6–8 years, it becomes clear that they can effectively gain the entire interest amount as profit. It is widely believed that such practices have been taking place in our country with the collusion of fraudulent cooperative operators, corrupt political leaders, and government activists. Correcting this situation is now the responsibility of the current government.
The cooperatives hold deposits, and depositors receive receipts for their savings. In any civilized country, people would not have to run from office to office or court to court to reclaim their own money. Yet, this is exactly what is happening here. Victims are wandering helplessly, pleading for the return of their savings. Some, despite having significant deposits, are unable to afford medical treatment and are suffering or even dying due to a lack of funds. The pain is unbearable.
In this situation, the current government must, without delay, take necessary legal measures to punish these fraudsters and ensure justice for cooperative victims by returning both their principal and due interest in a lump sum. Laws should be amended wherever necessary to confiscate all misappropriated funds—no matter where they have been hidden, whether under the names of relatives, friends, or associates.
However, in the government’s 100-point agenda, aside from a single line (point 99) stating that the process of returning savings to small depositors will begin within 100 days, there is little else addressing this grave issue. I hope the government will give serious attention to the broader concerns outlined above.
I also hope that the government will not create divisions or discrimination between small and large depositors, but instead take strict action against all fraudulent operators and ensure that the savings of all depositors are returned without delay.
narayanshanti70@gmail.com
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