Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has questioned the necessity of forming a probe commission to look into Grameen Bank's activities since its birth.
In a statement, Yunus on Wednesday said he was afraid that the bank's future would be at stake if the government exerted more influence on the bank.
"I believe without doubt that Grameen Bank's future will be endangered if the government reinforces its role in the bank affairs by changing its legal structure," he said in the statement.
"Has Grameen Bank done any major misdeed that needed (the government) to initiate this probe?" he asked. "I am saddened at hearing the news."
The government on May 16 formed the commission to review the ownership of Grameen Bank and 54 related social businesses that Yunus still heads, 14 months after Yunus was removed as its Managing Director.
The Bank and Financial Institutions Division of the Ministry of Finance in a circular announced the institution of the panel under 'The Commission of Inquiry Act, 1956' .
The committee will look into changing the structure of the profitable network of ventures that include Grameen Bank's stakes in Bangladesh's biggest mobile-phone company Grameenphone and recommend ways to ensure good governance, transparency and accountability of the microcredit NGO and how to bring it within the reach of state regulatory agencies.
The commission will identify the institutional strengths, weaknesses and constraints in the Grameen Bank's operation and review the purposes, legal status and operations of the institutions, companies and enterprises established by it.
The commission will also comment on the microcredit NGO's ownership and composition of its Board of Directors specifying qualifications for such membership. It will report to the government in three months.
Yunus added: "I am now enormously worried about the possibility of Grameen Bank being put under government control. I fear even to anticipate the course that Grameen Bank will take if it is made a government institution."
In a statement, Yunus on Wednesday said he was afraid that the bank's future would be at stake if the government exerted more influence on the bank.
"I believe without doubt that Grameen Bank's future will be endangered if the government reinforces its role in the bank affairs by changing its legal structure," he said in the statement.
"Has Grameen Bank done any major misdeed that needed (the government) to initiate this probe?" he asked. "I am saddened at hearing the news."
The government on May 16 formed the commission to review the ownership of Grameen Bank and 54 related social businesses that Yunus still heads, 14 months after Yunus was removed as its Managing Director.
The Bank and Financial Institutions Division of the Ministry of Finance in a circular announced the institution of the panel under 'The Commission of Inquiry Act, 1956' .
The committee will look into changing the structure of the profitable network of ventures that include Grameen Bank's stakes in Bangladesh's biggest mobile-phone company Grameenphone and recommend ways to ensure good governance, transparency and accountability of the microcredit NGO and how to bring it within the reach of state regulatory agencies.
The commission will identify the institutional strengths, weaknesses and constraints in the Grameen Bank's operation and review the purposes, legal status and operations of the institutions, companies and enterprises established by it.
The commission will also comment on the microcredit NGO's ownership and composition of its Board of Directors specifying qualifications for such membership. It will report to the government in three months.
Yunus added: "I am now enormously worried about the possibility of Grameen Bank being put under government control. I fear even to anticipate the course that Grameen Bank will take if it is made a government institution."
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