--By Sagar Ghimire

 

Jayaram Lamichhane, President of Federation of Contractors Association of Nepal (FCAN), has many identities associated with him. A teacher turned businessman, Lamichhance, has recently jumped into the fray of politics. Unlike many successful personalities, Lamichhane was a rolling stone, who did not have a thorough planning and a specific career goal to meet in the days to come. 

 

With the passage of time, he tried to fit himself in different roles, either merely to make his living, an ambition to earn huge amount money or sheer interest to serve the nation. Whatever he met on the way, he accepted it as a career with making sincere and hard efforts to make it happen.

 

The ambition to earn money has its roots in his early childhood. The deprivation he experienced during his childhood left an indelible imprint in his mind, always compelling him to think about accumulating wealth. However, he says, he never compromised with his ethics and integrity to make money. Born to Late Jibnath Lamichhane and Late Dewaki Lamichhane in a middle-class family in Makwanpur, he had to endure the grief of his father’s demise barely at the age of two.  

 

Multiple identities

Recently, he has been recommended as a Nepali Congress (NC) candidate for the upcoming Constituent Assembly polls from Makwanpur Constituency-2. He joined the party last month amid a function in Kathmandu, where the party president Sushil Koirala welcomed him by issuing the general membership of the NC. 

 

“I joined this democratic party as I want to serve the nation now through politics,” shares Lamichhane. He is in the contract business for more than 25 years. During this period, his company has not only constructed hundreds of bridges, roads and buildings, but also worked as a sub-contractor for the construction projects as far as in India, Japan, Cambodia and Qatar. 

 

He is now leading more than 17,000 contractors of the country as a President of FCAN. Apart from that, he is also a Board Member of Nepal Purwardhar Bikash Company Limited (NPBCL), Nepal’s first public limited company building a national toll highway of Asian Highway Standards. The company is in the process of building the Kathmandu-Kulekhani-Hetauda Tunnel Highway (KKHT), a dream project with the 4P initiative (people, public and private partnership). 

 

Teaching in transition

After completing his School Leaving Certificate degree from a local school in the Chitlang, Makwanpur, he decided to teach in a school at Kulekhani to make a living instead of going to college. It was while teaching in the school he decided to appear privately in Intermediate degree exams. He was happy for getting a teaching job as he did not need to worry about bread and butter. Yet, he was looking further for ways to make more money. “It was very difficult for me to manage everything with mere Rs 275 per month. So, I was looking for other alternatives,” he shares.

 

Turning Point

Once, Lamichhane was returning home from Martung, Kulekhani for his holiday. Incidentally, he met one of his relatives Ram Prasad Lamichhane on the way, who happened to work for Mittal Construction Pvt Ltd in a Devighaat Hydropower project. Lamichhane inquired about job possibility in the company. The relative informed him that the company was looking for someone who could look after the project accounts, and had to be stationed in Dhunche in Rasuwa. 

 

Agreeing to work, he went to Kathmandu the next day for the job in the Company. The company offered him Rs 1000 per month for the job.  Later, he went to the project site to take up the job of maintaining financial account of the project. However, he did not limit himself to book keeping. “Eventually, I learned other aspects like engineering, survey works as well as other aspects of road construction,” he recalls.  After the completion of that project, he was provided with the overall responsibility of another hydropower project as an in-charge. Impressed with his works, the company later provided him the responsibilities in numerous other projects. 

 

“While working for these projects, I had gained a lot of experience and also had an insight of the construction business.” he shares. Life was about to open a new door for him, and he was struck with an idea to open his own construction company. “When I shared my interest to come up with my own company with the Managing Director Manohari Lal Mittal, he was very affirmative about the idea and encouraged me to pursue what I dreamt of,” he says and adds, “he did not only encourage with his words but also provided me with a seed fund of Rs 50,000.”

 

With this capital, he registered his own company Swochhanda Constuction Pvt Ltd in 1989. It did not take him much to speed up the business after establishing his own venture.  After the launch of his own company, he never looked back. The first project his company undertook was an irrigation project in Parsa worth Rs 300,000. Till date, he has completed many projects worth billions of rupees, most of them as a sub-contractor for international companies like Japan’s Obayashi Corporation and Chinese CWE Company. He says he has been able to win hearts of these international companies, thereby earning accreditation for his company as one of the ‘best’ in Nepal. 

 

Personal Nature

Youngest among five sisters and brothers, Lamichhane did not get a privilege to go to college owing to the poor economic condition. However, he did not let his interest of studying die. Though he had dropped school while he was in grade 8, he rejoined it later realizing that he should continue his study at any cost. 

 

An introvert during his childhood, his family friends and relatives mistakenly thought him to be arrogant.  Today, Lamichhane has much changed and is quite an outspoken person. “I was determined to achieve whatever I strived for, and that included my personal aspects as well,” he says.  Since he did not grow up in a well-off family, he rarely had time to hang out with his friends. “I realised from my early childhood that I had to manage the finances myself, and I always felt that I had to stand on my own feet. Owing to my financial problems, I never get a chance and time to truly enjoy my childhood,” says Lamichhane.

 

“Nobody to guide”

Behind every successful person, there is somebody whose support becomes instrumental for him. Family, teacher or a mentor, among others, are usually there to push a person forward towards his life goals. However, it was not the case for Lamichhane. “I was not lucky enough to have such an opportunity.  Whatever I met with in my directionless journey, I had to utilize and adopt it on my own as a career,” says Lamichhane. 

 

Sustaining Formula

Lamichhane says that wherever he stands today, it is because of his honesty that he maintained throughout all the situations. “Once I even refused a huge project offered by the Obayashi Corporation because I knew I could not deliver the work on their stipulated deadline,” he shares, and adds, “after I was reluctant to undertake the project, they insisted me to work with them, encouraging me to take the project anyway. They assured me that they will support me in everything to get the project done on time.”

 

He says that he did not shy away from revealing own weaknesses. “The businessmen in Nepal tend to conceal their pitfalls, but I have always tried to be honest,” says Lamichhane. He respects the value of labour very much.  “Be it in a single grain that I eat or a single cup of tea that I sip, there is a value of labour attached with it,” he notes. 

 

He gives the labourers very big credit behind his success in business. “For me, I come only after the labourers, who always put their efforts and hard work for the success of any project,” he says.

 

Bad Bidding

As a businessman who has spent almost three decades in the construction business, Lamichhane strongly criticizes the tender bidding process of Nepal. The contractors are often accused of employing muscle power and goons for getting the contract in their hands. However, he denies it as a problem. The overall problem emanates from the flawed tender bidding process and the related law, he claims. “The tender bidding process neither bodes well to the contractor nor to the beneficiaries. The contractors have to compromise on the quality of the construction as the lowest bidder is awarded with the project,” he argues.  Frustrated with the lengthy, complicated and flawed process of the tender bidding of the government projects, he underlines the need of overhaul in the bidding process. “Else the country and people will have to suffer from the substandard delivery of the projects,” he warns.

 

Hobbies and Family 

Humming songs alone, watching comedy shows and spending times with family are his hobbies. When overloaded and stressed with work, he meditates, and loves to do so in secluded and tranquil location of Dakshinkali. “To get rid from the hustle bustle of the city, I sneak to Dakshinkali alone for 2/3 hours to meditate, sometimes even at 10 in the night,” he reveals. 

 

He has three children who are in school.  As he is not able to give much time to his family on weekdays, he manages a day in a week for them. “My children understand me and are happy with their dad’s works,” he shares.  Lately, travelling and enjoying the natural beauty has become his pastime. He has been to 56 districts of Nepal and also to more than 25 countries.  Out of all the countries he has been to, he loves Japan the best while he never gets tired of going to Kulekhani and Daman in Nepal.

 

Entrepreneurship Essence  

Years of Unwavering walks have landed Lamichhane in his current position. He didn’t have any concrete plans when he started. He, however, advises the aspiring entrepreneurs to think ahead in future and weigh the profitability of the business they want. “Never compromise in quality in what you do, and always maintain honesty, regardless of the circumstance. Stick to the deadlines, and always delivered the promised quality. You should be accountable for these two aspects,” he cautions.  For him, success is seen as what grows after sowing in the barren land. He advises to new generation: “Always sow better seeds so that the coming generation would always remember you while reaping and rejoicing the benefits of it.”