Special Correspondent
M Muniruzzaman, President of the Centre to Save Grameen Bank and Resist Malefactors (Grameen Bank Rakkha O Durjan Pratirodh Kendro) and Advocate Kazi Sadrul Huq Shudha, general secretary in a joint statement demanded immediate resignation of Finance Minister AMA Muhith for hatching a conspiracy against the Grammeen Bank, and other organisations created by Nobel Laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus with the brand name of Grameen.
The high handed air of the finance minister maligning Dr. Muhammad Yunus and the elected directors of the Grameen Bank has crossed all limits, the statement pointed out in deep dissatisfaction.
The Finance Minister told the media as reported on April 2, that the present system of electing directors of the Grameen Bank is undemocratic and unauthorized; so he plans to change the Grameen system of electing Directors. The Finance Minister further said that the borrower directors elected from the grass-roots are not qualified and educated enough to be on the Board of Directors.
According to the present rules, the Grameen Bank Board of Directors is composed of nine non-Government directors elected by the borrower-members who together hold 97% of the assets of the Grameen Bank. In addition, there are three Government nominees on the Board. These rules had come into force through due legal process.
The point made about the competence and education of the elected Directors is plainly unwarranted. It is a matter for the borrower-members to judge. The latter elect those in whom they have trust. This is the essence of democracy and also the standard corporate practice. The statement found it strange and surprising on the part of Finance Minister in dealing with affairs of the Bank of the poor, which have earned fame and Nobel Peace Prize when Sonali and other state-owned banks are in deep liquidity crisis due to fraud, pilferage, bad investment and general mismanagement.
The signatories of the statement called upon the Finance Minister, to address the real problem – his very own gross failures in banking management and financial discipline – and to have the grace to resign so as to spare the people further misery and save the nation-state from disaster.
Source: Weekly Holiday
