Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- A group of eminent citizens have expressed concern over the recent amendment to the Grameen Bank(GB) Ordinance that gave almost absolute powers to the government-appointed chairman to choose a managing director for the Nobel-winning organization.
Terming it a negative decision, they called upon the government to scrap the amendment and help strengthen the bank's poverty alleviation programs.
President Zillur Rahman promulgated the amended ordinance on August 22.
In a joint statement on Sunday, 65 eminent citizens said the government had made the move out of what it called vengeance to ruin the bank.
They said Grameen Bank won the Nobel Prize as a model of poverty alleviation. And the micro-credit model established by Nobel laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus was recognized across the globe.
The achievement of Grameen Bank and Prof Yunus is also that of the country's 160 million people.
The Grameen Bank's success inspired the people of Bangladesh to stand tall before the world once again after the country's independence.
But the nation was now worried about the bank's fate, as it had become a victim of the present government's vindictiveness.
The signatories to the statement include former Dhaka University vice-chancellors Professor Emajuddin Ahmed and Moniruzzaman Miah, Professor Sadrul Amin, former adviser to caretaker government MA Majed, Professor Mustahidur Rahman, Professor AFM Yusuf Haidar, advocate Khondker Mahbub Hossain, journalist Reazuddin Ahmed, Shawkat Mahmud and Ruhul Amin Gazi.
BBN/SSR/AD-2&aug12-11:00 am (BST)
