Government and Loan-Sharking Victims Reach  Nine-Point Agreement

Kathmandu: The government and representatives of loan-sharking victims reached a nine-point agreement today.

Following the agreement, the anti-loan shark protest, which had continued for the past nine days, has been suspended.

The “Justice March on Foot,” which began on July 9th from Tritiyagachhi in Janakpur, reached Nijgadh in Bara yesterday. Then, Home Minister Sudan Gurung and representatives of the victims agreed to form a negotiation team in Kathmandu.

In line with that understanding, the victims’ negotiation team arrived in Kathmandu yesterday, and talks with the government team led by Pushkar Sapkota, Secretary at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, resulted in the nine-point agreement.

The agreement was signed by Secretary Pushkar Sapkota on behalf of the government and Awadhesh Kushwaha on behalf of the victims.

Under the agreement, the government will table a proposal at the next Cabinet meeting to officially recognise loan sharking as an economic crime and declare the complete eradication of the practice.

The agreement also states that the Ministry of Home Affairs will prepare a draft of a special bill within three months to enact a Loan Sharking Control Act.