I’ve been running a small breakfast shop for a few years now. The people walking along the Vishnumati corridor, the motorcycle garages nearby, the people working in some of the factories inside are the customers of my shop.
Boiled eggs, gram, tea and chillies are available in my shop. I used to work, but now I want to do my own thing, even with a small investment.
Though the past few years have been comfortable, this year my canteen has been affected by high prices. There is nothing in my small kitchen that hasn’t been sold for a year. Not just the kitchen, everything I use during the day has become cheaper.
Recently the price of water has increased rapidly. I used to buy cartoons of mineral water for Rs 100. I used to buy a jar of water for Rs 30. At present, the cost of a cartoon of mineral water has reached Rs 150. The cost of a jar of water has been fixed at Rs 40.
When we buy cartoons, YY Noodles which used to come in 18 packets has now reached to Rs.20. A few days back, the company had reduced the retail price from Rs 20 to Rs 22. The government had increased the price of gas a few days ago. The cost of an egg has reached Rs 475 per crate.
Sugar alone has now reached Rs 110. The price of cooking oil has skyrocketed. It is not customary to keep track of how expensive it is. Ignoring that it has increased slightly, the kitchen and daily expenses have become unbearable. I don’t even pay 12 thousand rupees a month to go to work.
Due to the high cost of living, the daily expenditure is less than one thousand rupees. Let’s work on our own and don’t even earn 500 rupees in a day.
How to survive by spending 500/- and 1000/- rupees. Let’s raise the price because there is no income. Customers don’t come. Inflation has put us in a position to neither move forward nor retreat.
It has grown rapidly in a year. Inflation has not touched even after the return of the government. Last year it was increasing slowly but from last July a new government has come. Then it took a turn for the worse. If there has been a single increase in prices, it is that it has gone up everywhere.
How does the price of all the goods rise together? Why does money increase? We are ordinary people who earn a living. No one has been able to send the correct solution yet, which is not strange. The government does not seem to be working to control inflation. On the contrary, it is being heard that the increase in prices is due to the government. If this situation continues, it will not be possible to run the kitchen by making additional investment. How to pay rent How to run daily?
(Based on an interview with businessman Devkota by online journalist Naveen Dhungana.
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