Jobra people worried over Grameen Bank's future
Ninety residents of Jobra village have expressed their concern over the recent amendments to the Grameen Bank ordinance, which would allegedly turn the microfinance institution into a government-controlled organisation.
If the bank is not run by its own people, its operation might be hampered, they said in a statement yesterday, and urged the government "to leave the power to operate Grameen Bank with its directors".
Grameen Bank started its journey from Jobra of Hathazari upazila in 1976.
The statement said when Prof Muhammad Yunus started Grameen Bank's operation in the region, he did not receive any collateral against the micro-loans he extended to the poor. Moreover, he used his own money to carry out the loaning activities and established Nabajug Tebhaga Khamar to create a green revolution and continue the bank's operation there, it said.
The Grameen Bank model is being copied around the world, and it has been so successful that Dr Yunus and his bank got Nobel Prize in 2006, bringing a great honour and pride for the country, the statement added.
Local public representatives and members of different social groups among others signed the statement. They include Chairman of No 11 Fatehpur Union Parishad Md Jaker Hossain, its two former chairmen Saleh Jahur Bahadur and Md Sekandar Mia, President of Jobra Primary School Governing Body Md Lokman Chowdhury, and President of Hathazari Buddhist Welfare Council Ananda Bikash Barua.
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