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Nobel Peace For Have Nots Palash Biswas (contact: Palash Biswas, c/o Mrs arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata - 700110, India, Phone: 033-2565-9551-residencde) Without any sinificant media hype Bangladeshi real life economist and banker Mohammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank founded by him were today awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for pioneering their work in helping millions, especially women, in the country overcome poverty through a system of small-scale loans,micro credit,the extension of small loans to benefit poor entrepreneurs.The Nobel Committee said Yunus and the bank he founded had used the innovative program to "create economic and social development from below." Women have been some of the biggest beneficiaries of microcredit, which provides small loans to entrepreneurs too poor to qualify for traditional bank loans. From Adam Smith, the father of economics, economists tend to support the ruling capitalist class and always are associated with establishment and system. Muhammad Yunus is incomparably the most honoured social activist of our era and he does not identitify himself with the ruling elite economists.He could have been established himself in the developed part of the globe and could have preached poverty eliminination with theories, papers and surveys. But he used applied economics a tool of class mobilisation of the most neglected underclasses of an underdeveloped country like Bangladesh. No doubt , we the unfortunate Indians miss an economist like him as we are quite habitual to expect the great Indian brain drain flow towards West. Yunus has received so many awards that prize-givers vie not to be left behind.It is difficult to believe that Yunus started as a student and teacher of economics, for although economists believe they work to make the world a richer place, they do not have much time for doing good. In 1974, while surveying the famine sick villages Ynus declared that those villagers belonged to his family. He never denied the responsibilty of his family liabilities.Recently, Grameen Bank floated a mutual fund to enable its clients to invest in the stock market. But its focus is on women, and on women who do not have the opportunities that money or urban life bring. It would give Reserve Bank a fit, but the women borrowers own 94 per cent of the Grameen Bank's equity; and 99 per cent of them repay their loans. What began as an academic research project with a practical testing ground in the poverty-stricken villages around Chittagong in Bangladesh grew into a successful story of social entrepreneurship which changed the way economists and policy-makers thought about the eradication of poverty. .The BBC's Lars Bevanger in Oslo said this year's winner caught most there by surprise. Many commentators had expected an award to someone involved in peace talks. Mr Yunus, 66, said he would use the 10m Swedish kronor ($1.35m, £730,000) prize money to "find more innovative ways" to help the poor launch businesses. He said he was delighted at the news and proud of the bank's achievement. The Nobel Committee cited how his Grameen Bank aids the poor "to bring about their own development". And the concept of extending loans to a largely female client base has also been credited with reducing domestic violence by giving women a previously unattainable degree of independence. Before Yunus, Tagore and Sen were the two Bengalis who won the Nobel. Some include Mother Teresa in the list as she lived and worked in Calcutta. Mother teresa from Kolkata also won Nobel Peace. The largest Bengali Daily from Kolkata published the news with a screaming headline emphasising unnecessarily on the achievement of Dr Amartya sen that dr. Yunus gets Nobel after Aramrtya. Firstly Sen get the Nobel Memorial prize for economics, which is not considered a nobel prize at all by some quarters. Dr Subodh Chandra Roy has authored a book on this topic and is already engaged with leagal fight with the group publishing the headline. Secondly, Sen hes written so many things and said a little more , but he is nowhere ,in no sense involved seriosly with an agenda of poverty elimination. While Yunus got a nobel peace for his Grameen Bnak, directly involved in poverty eliminination. His microcredit modelis adopted by more than hundred countries including the leader of unipolar globe, the superpower armed with globalisation, IMF and World Bank, United States ofamerica. Bengalies all over the world have regained the lost memories and sentiments of Bengali Nationality. The history of getting Nobel by Rabindra Nath Tagore and Mother Teresa is being read aloud. Just thought you might find the following interesting. Amartya Sen is not only the first Indian to win the Economics Prize it is the first time that work on poverty has gained this kind of international recognition (compared to fancy theoretical shenanigans!) .But may we dare to cite any instance of an interferance of Sen to change the economic system. Yes, Yunus has done it. Hence, please don`t compare Yunus with Sen. Mr Yunus set up the bank in 1976 with just $27 from his own pocket. Thirty years on, the bank has 6.6 million borrowers, of which 97% are women, according to the Grameen website. Mr Yunus is expected to pick up the award and prize money during a ceremony in Oslo in December. The award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Bangladeshi economist Professor Muhammad Yunus has focused the attention of the world on the microcredit scheme he pioneered. Returning from the US, Yunus was shaken by the 1974 famine and headed to the villages to see what he could do.He found the region's women in severe debt to extortionate moneylenders. His initial goal was to persuade a bank manager to give villagers regular credit, but the banker said that was impossible without a guarantee.Yunus set out to prove him wrong and never looked back. Grameen Bank has lent $5.72 billion since it began. Of this, $5.07 billion has been repaid.Today the bank is 94 per cent owned by the rural poor it serves and 6 per cent by the government.Grameen Bank claims to have 6.6 million borrowers, 97 percent of whom are women, and provides services in more than 70,000 villages in Bangladesh. "At GB, credit is a cost effective weapon to fight poverty and it serves as a catalyst in the overall development of socio-economic conditions of the poor who have been kept outside the banking orbit on the ground that they are poor and hence not bankable," the committee said. "We congratulate Muhammad Yunus for his achievement,"Prime Minister Khaleda Zia said, a view shared by her rival Sheikh Hasina. The relevance of Dr Yunus and his unique attempt, high Bank interest rates, cooperative movement in India with alarming facts, Achievement of Left ruling the other part of Bengal and sensex related economies of this sub continent must be analysed while we congratulate Dr Yunus. We should also not forget that Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh and the Grameen Bank have been jointly awarded the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize. Mr Yunus, an economist, founded the bank, which is one of the pioneers of micro-credit lending schemes for the poor, especially women, in Bangladesh. The role played by the bank is very significant as we see the collapsing cooperative movement in India and particularly the ways adopted by West Bengal communist government for capitalist development forgetting all the achievement of land reforms and the entire rural sector. Bangladesh is one of the world's most densely populated countries, with its people crammed into a delta of rivers that empties into the Bay of Bengal.Formerly East Pakistan, Bangladesh came into being only in 1971, when the two parts of Pakistan split after a bitter civil war which drew in neighbouring India. Bangladesh spent 15 years under military rule and, although democracy was restored in 1990, the political scene remains volatile.Hemmed in by water, the capital Dhaka is expanding skywards . Poverty is deep and widespread; almost half of the population live on less than one dollar a day. However, Bangladesh has reduced population growth and improved health and education. The economy of the country is run mostly by Bangladesh aid club. Japan is the most prominent aid giving country for Bangladesh. the country is sharply divided in two groups- Haves and Not Haves. Middle class is disappeared. The not haves consist of the ninety percent of the population.The major employer is agriculture, but it is unable to meet the demand for jobs. Thus many Bangladeshis - in common with citizens from other countries in the region - seek work abroad, sometimes illegally. The country is trying to diversify its economy, with industrial development a priority. Overseas investors have pumped money into manufacturing and the energy sector. Political tensions have spilled over into violence; hundreds of people have been killed in recent years. Attacks have targeted opposition rallies and public gatherings. Senior opposition figures have also been targeted. Concern has grown about religious extremism in the traditionally moderate and tolerant country, which found apparent form in a string of bomb attacks in August 2005. The government, which long denied that it had a problem with militants, has outlawed two fringe Islamic organisations. Bangladesh has been criticised for its human rights record, with particular concern about assaults on women and allegations that police use torture against those in custody. The low-lying country is vulnerable to flooding and cyclones and it stands to be badly affected by predicted rises in sea levels. Here Grameen bank has 2226 branches from which the micro credit scheme is run. Bank credit without security is quite unthinkable in this subcontinent. In India, we celebrated the centenary of cooperative movement recently. In our nationa lplans and budgets rural development has been always a priority. India is basically a agririan country and inspite of boasting of great achievement of cooperative movement we could neither manage bank credit for the havenots without security nor we could help the poor peasnats to sustain themselves . We see the suicide incidents headings almost daily in the newspapers and just feel sympathetic. Moreover, in India poverty elimination has been always on top in political agenda. In mid term elections of 1971, Mrs Indira Gandhi introduced first the slogan`GARIBI HATAO, SAMAJBAD LAO'. With Bangladesh liberated Mrs Gandhi romped homewith landslide majority. Banks were nationalised for socilist innovation. After four decades, unfortunately we see that the political agenda was never put on action. With globalisation, the nationalised banks as well as the multinational ones adopt a credit policy suiting the Haves only. Bank loans are available for the affluent classses. Nationwide branches of State Bank of India also failed to help the underclasses.Globalisation has introduced a new credit policy which promote consumption of consumer goods and helps a little to enhance productivity and production system. Sensex has bacome the index of national economy and growth. Small savings and PF interests decline mercylessly. And it seems, sooner or later India goes the Bangladesh ways dividing itself vertically between Haves and Not Haves.We could not pass the woman`s reservation Bill in the parliament while the general condition of woman in Bangladesh , socially, economically and religiously , is very poor in coparision to Indian women. In these adverse circumstances no less than ninty four percent of creditholders are women. Inspired by him, India, which has given him several awards, also introduced the micro-finance concept. Travelling in Europe, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh congratulated his "personal friend" and an "outstanding South Asian". "It comes to me as no surprise. I rejoice in his achievement," Singh said. After India attained Independence in August, 1947, cooperatives assumed a great significance in poverty removal and faster socio- economic growth. With the advent of the planning process, cooperatives became an integral part of the Five Year Plans. As a result, they emerged as a distinct segment in our national economy.In the First Five Year Plan, it was specifically stated that the success of the Plan would be judged, among other things, by the extent it was implemented through cooperative organisations. Dr Manmohan Singh should know what happened to our cooperative and nationalised banking secotors as both failed to launch micro credit system at any level. The honourable Prime minister and an economist engaged with World Bank and IMF should know well that Professor Yunus has always emphasized the distinction between the Grameen Bank's concept of micro-credit and other prevailing forms of small-quantum credit obtainable in rural areas, including that from the informal money-lender and other traditional informal groups, or groups sharing a common economic activity as livelihood. According to him, the Grameen Bank model focuses on credit as a human right, and is targeted to help poor families help themselves, especially women. Each borrower would have to belong to a group. There are obligatory as well as voluntary savings programmes that borrowers must participate in. Fellow Nobel winner Amartya Sen told The Telegraph from Harvard: "I am absolutely delighted . (He) has made a big difference in Bangladesh and will be making a big difference across the world ." Yunus is a visionary person. He is someone who can convert constructive vision into social reality - Amartya Sen Hundreds of friends and admirers gathered at Yunus's Dhaka home to greet him with flowers and garlands. No wonder that the Grameen Bank is one of the most widely emulated institutions in the world. Not least in India, where a couple of hundred rural banks were started. But here, the experience was less exhilarating. Many borrowers did not repay; defaults were so serious that almost half of the rural banks went bankrupt and were merged with the others weakening the latter.Indian banking and cooperative, both sectors face alarming crisis as it defends the stronger and neglects the poor. Even Panchayati Raj and its successful record in states like Bengal, could not help this. Cooperative system Is near total failure in Eastern India including Bengal, Orrissa, Assam and Bihar. So what are microcredits? They are very small loans, typically less than $100 (£54), made to the rural poor in developing countries who normally do not qualify for traditional banking credit. This is often the only way they can establish a business and lift themselves out of poverty. Professor Yunus founded his Grameen Bank in 1976 during a devastating famine in Bangladesh. Today it has 6.6 million borrowers of whom 97% are women. This focus on female borrowers in a society where women are frequently forced to take responsibility for their entire family is one of the characteristics that caught the Nobel Committee's attention. Grameen, which means village, is an idea that has spread to more than 40 countries including Sri Lanka where women's banks were already a familiar concept. Yunus could not bear the plight of people starving in the famine of 1974 in Bangladesh, and took students to a village to find an economic solution for the crisis. They tried various things, but the one that worked was small loans to a group of village women. It was lending with a difference. Unlike conventional bank lending, it was unsecured; instead, Yunus invented a new collateral, namely the solidarity of poor women. They together guaranteed the loan of each; if one failed to pay, the others did for her. They not only promised to repay, but collectively insured the loans they took. The poor often help out their neighbours; Yunus used their modest but routine generosity to make lending to them viable. He confined his generosity to the poors only whereas we see this generosity is always endowed with the higher income group in India by Indian banking system. The default on the part of heavywieghts tendto cause pauses like failure in the system itself. It happend to be the same story in the cooperative movement, nevertheless. How do microcredits work? Grameen transactions take place at the village level, usually in a local hall or temple. Typically a Grameen borrower will use a loan to buy tools and equipment to set up on their own. As the microcredit idea has grown the Grameen organisation has extended into foundations dedicated to fisheries and irrigation. By avoiding both employers and unscrupulous local money lenders the Grameen loan aims to break a circle of exploitation that frequently condemns rural villagers to lives of poverty. And because the loans are often repaid by villagers banding together in loan clubs, this has led to accusations that some of the poor can come under peer pressure to repay the money they owe when times are tough. Grameen Bank has also survived accusations that it lacked adequate funds, though Professor Yunus was adamant that his bank could repay all of the money it raised from the commercial sector. Despite some concerns, Professor Yunus and his ideas have attracted a growing band of advocates, including the former US President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary Recently, Grameen Bank floated a mutual fund to enable its clients to invest in the stock market. But its focus is on women, and on women who do not have the opportunities that money or urban life bring. It would give Reserve Bank a fit, but the women borrowers own 94 per cent of the Grameen Bank's equity; and 99 per cent of them repay their loans. "I'm very very happy. It's a great honour for us and for Bangladesh. It's a recognition of our work," Yunus told the BBC Bengali service. "As a Bangladeshi, I'm proud that we have given something to the world. Our work has now been recognised by the whole world. " The 66-year-old Yunus, the first Bangladeshi to win a Nobel prize, said: "I think this is a wonderful recognition of our efforts at Grameen Bank, and for all the women who work for us and who have made Grameen Bank a success. "I am proud of the whole country," a beaming Mr Yunus told reporters at his home here. The award will "inspire him to complete his future plans", said the economist whose Grameen Bank was honoured with India's Gandhi Peace Prize in 2000. The prize includes 10 million Swedish kronor ($1.4 million). Mr Yunus said he would invest the cash into his financing offers for the poor. Announcing the award, the Nobel Committee in Oslo said it was given for efforts by Mr Yunus and the bank to "create economic and social development from below". "Across cultures and civilisations, Mr Yunus and Grameen Bank have shown that even the poorest of the poor can work to bring about their own development," the Nobel Committee said in its citation. Mr Yunus first learnt about winning the prize from a Norwegian TV station, which called him to say he might get the award and then told him to hold the telephone line. Soon after, a voice from the other end confirmed he had won the Nobel Peace Prize. Asked why the Nobel Foundation had given him the peace prize and not the one for economics, Mr Yunus said: "Economics and peace is directly linked. Unrest in many parts of the world is linked to economics." Mr Yunus was rumoured to be in the running for the Nobel prize in economics for the past three years. Loans to poor people without any financial security had appeared to be an impossible idea. From modest beginnings three decades ago, Yunus has, first and foremost through Grameen Bank, developed micro-credit into an ever more important instrument in the struggle against poverty. *************************************************************************** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia *************************************************************************** __________________________________________________________________________ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Reading only, http://dear.to/ppi 4. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 5. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! 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