Black Market of Goods in Nepal

I was greatly surprised when my neighbor displayed two cylinders of cooking gas in spite of its acute shortage in the market. I asked her, "Where did you get it ?" She proudly replied, "Oh this, I bought them at a slightly higher price from our shop-keeper". She also told me that she bought the two cylinders despit having  one cylinder already in stock.

This attitude of my neighbor represents the common attitude of hundreds of Nepali housewives. When goods are in short supply in the market, they tend to store extra quantity of goods which leads to further shortage. We can see the queue of vehicles in petrol pumps and people holding a number of empty gas cylinders in the gas shop. Other goods are also in  shortage. In such a situation the back market is expanding.

However, we are responsible for increasing the black market because of our tendency and poor judgment. It is the main cause of black marketing. When we see a large number of vehicles queuing in petrol  pumps, we join the queue whether we need it or not at the moment. When we know about the shortage of gas in market we purchase couple of gas cylinders for storing. We only  store when we see the signal "No" in shop or hear the rumor of scarcity. In ordinary situation we never care.

Now, many things in the market are in shortage, expecially petroleum products. Therefore, we tend to add more gas cylinders in our stock and buy more petroleum products than we need. The trend to purchase more than required during banda has helped the black market flourish.

In this sense, we ourselves are the promoters of the black maket. No matter if we are really in need of extra stock or not, a majority of Nepalis have the tendency to spend extravagently on goods and store them for the future. This aggravates the situation when there already is shortage of goods. The common people do not  have stocks at home and are obliged to buy at the price asked by shopkeepers in the wake of high demand caused by the shortage.

It is funny to see people purchasing things whenever they hear rumors of a weeklong strike, even though they possess these commodities sufficient for 2 months. It is this tendency that supports the thriving black market. Hence, as a conscious consumer, we should help prevent the black market. Let us not rush to buy extra quantities of goods which are already in high demand and short supply.