Dhaka, May 30 (UNB) – Worried about the future of the microcredit bank he founded in 1976, Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus on Wednesday questioned the government’s intention of forming a four-member probe commission to review the activities of Grameen Bank and its associate organisations.

In a statement, the former managing director (MD) of the Grameen Bank said the government has set a ‘record’ by forming the commission on the Asia’s only Nobel wining institution Grameen Bank.

"Has the Grameen Bank committed any major unwarranted incident that prompted (the government) to launch this probe?" he questioned.

Dr Yunus feared that the Grameen Bank's future would be at stake if the government reinforced its role in the bank affairs by changing its legal structure.

He also suggested the government establish one or more banks like Grameen without poking its nose into it (GB).

The microcredit pioneer also raised question as to why the government formed the commission against the Grameen Bank, which earned international recognition by its creative work plan and new management system.

He said the commission was asked to review the activities of the Grameen Bank from its inception to 2010 to make recommendations on it. “I simply can’t understand why the post-2010 events have been dropped from the commission’s purview. Have all the problems of the Grameen Bank got resolved after 2010?” he questioned further.

Dr Yunus urged the government not to change the legal structure of the bank for the sake of its millions of beneficiaries, mainly poor women.  

He urged the people of the country, irrespective of their political opinion, profession, age and position, to come forward to prevent the government from brining any change in the legal structure of the GB.

“We all will have to save the GB unitedly. Grameen Bank should be run under the ownership of poor women,” he said.


On May 16, the government constituted the commission with former secretary M Mamunur Rashid as its head to make recommendations on the future role of the bank and its associate bodies after reviewing the activities of the Grameen Bank and its associate organizations Its other members are Barrister Azmalul Hossain, Musleah Uddin Ahmed and Planning and Development

The Bank and Financial Institution Division under the Finance Ministry formed the commission.

As per its terms of reference, the commission will work to identify the institutional strength, weakness and constraints, in the operation of Grameen Bank from its inception till 2010. It will recommend measures for ensuring good governance in the Bank, especially with a focus on accountability of management and transparency of operations.

It will review the purpose, legal status and operation of the institutions, companies and enterprise established by Grameen bank, and also recommend, on the basis of the above review, a scheme for defining the relationship of these institutions with Grameen Bank.

On March 2, 211, Dr Yunus was removed from the post of managing director (MD) of the Grameen Bank through a Bangladesh Bank letter.

The central bank said Dr Yunus had failed to seek its approval when he was reappointed as the managing director in 2000, violating one of the statutes of the partly state-owned (25 percent) Grameen Bank.