Earlier the Awami Leage requested Bangladeshi authorities to investigate the allegations regarding the so-called misuse of millions of dollars of aid money provided by the Norwegian government back in 1980s. The aid was given on the condition that it would be used for housing needs of GB members only. However, later in 1997, while reviewing Grameen Bank’s annual report, the Norwegian Embassy in Dhaka discovered in a footnote to the financial statements indicating some major changes in the Bank’s recorded balance. For the embassy, the change seemed related to the so-called aid money. At the time, the embassy had no information about the sister company Grameen Kalyan to which the aid money was transferred . Grameen Kalyan, as being one of the sister companies under Grameen umbrella, works to improve the health conditions of its members as well as non members in rural villages.
MD and one of GB members seeking treatment
at Kalyan Health Office
MD and his associates specializing in dental & eye care
MD while talking to dental care specialist
MD and his treatment room at Kalyan Health Office in rural village
When the first initial contact was made with the Embassy, the Bank sent the embassy a copy of the agreement between the bank and Kalyan along with some other documents about the organization. Grameen Kalyan, a non-profit company, was created by Grameen Bank in 1996. The main work of Grameen Kalyan is to provide loans to its employees and its members and non-members for them to use for their health care. It is very very much the same as micro loans but the purpose is different. Instead of getting loan for production purposes, the people use the loan for their health care needs It should be noted that there is no social security system in Bangladesh. The statue of Kalyan allows it to operate in a broad variety of activities except for micro loans and housing. And because of this, the Norwegian government insisted that money should stay with Grameen Bank. And, later this money was transferred back to Grameen Bank and the Norwegian government became satisfied with it and the case was closed. The purpose of this transaction is still not clear to many. Later, Yunus’ statement that goes ‘the main purpose of the transaction was to reduce tax obligations, and to secure funds for the members of Grameen Bank’ made things harder to understand. It just gave the PM Hasina another sneaky opportunity to attack Yunus from behind accusing him of tax evasion like everyone in Bangladesh, including GB’s members pay their taxes and government can’t find place to use tax money for! Whatever the reason was, on both accounts the discussion should be done on a different level. Firstly, the discussions should be fact based. This has never been done. Because, there is no such authority in Bangladesh that people can really trust from heart . If one looks at how politics work in Bangladesh, he or she can easily notice that accusation is the main form of communication in politics. Political interference in institutions is clearly visible. Political corruption and intervention is bothering everybody. In a situation like this, if someone like the PM of a country says 'hey World wake up! Yunus and his organization is sucking the blood of poor people', I would not see any sincerity in this comment. And I would say who are you to make such allegations without placing your claims on some facts that are shared with the public. Secondly, not many people, particularly in the media, want to question what kind of economy GB is creating. It is creating a huge informal economy that does not provide steady income in western standards and obviously it does not create no revenue for income tax for the government. It is informal economy that we are talking about here. What to expect. This is still important for poor rural people if nobody is doing anything about them. Small loans, big dreams! There is no single GB member paying tax, why should GB pay? Corruption is number one issue that needs to be solved in Bangladesh. Yunus, when he attempted to establish his party in 2007 said politicians in Bangladesh do politics not because they believe in ideology but money. People believed in him and his motive for being in politics. He received a very good reaction from different parts of the Bangladeshi society including the academia. But, it did not took him long to realize it was too hard to breath in the dirty politics of Bangladesh. He pulled back leaving many behind disappointed. Being the largest financial institution does not mean GB is more responsible in paying taxes than others. People and organizations who accuse Yunus of being corrupt should look into the mirror first. By just saying the truth does not bring anyone any Nobel Prize either. PM Hasina is no exception. Nobel Prize Committee is more motivated by actions. Prof. Yunus achieved this by taking actions that Bangladeshi politicians did not even imagine. He deserved an appreciation for his efforts in a country like Bangladesh. One can only understand this when he or she lives there and sees that Bangladesh needs working institutions. GB is one of them. This might sound a huge complement for the critics of the whole idea of micro loans. And, some politicians in the ruling party just can’t take it. what so ever. There are more important problems with microfinance approach. And, the problems will stay unsolved regardless of where the Board of Directors decides to use the grant or Yunus receives the top tax payer prize, or there is no corruption at all at GB. This is not the first time Hasina is doing aggressive politics. Her last victim was BNP leader Khaleda Zia that made her cry in the front of the TV channels. She had been forcefully removed from her residence. Not surprisingly, this time, another ego clash that has also hit the Canadian newspapers’ headlines. Yunus is being accused of not retiring. PM has been after Yunus for some time. But, Yunus has a lot of support and has gained sympathy that Bangladeshi people have been desperately looking for in politicians.
Recent 'ego clash' between Yunus and PM Hasina that hit Canadian newspapers' headlines
National Post
