Banks for the masses or the elite?- Muhammad Yunus answers the question

Well what really are banks in this world here for? Is it to give loans only to people who have a guarantor or assets worth more than the money that they are borrowing? Well yes this is the current state of the present private banks. Then where is the scope or the opportunity for the poor to really grow up? This question was the sole reason for the starting of the "Grameen" bank. It was started by the great economist Muhammad Yunus for his countrymen in Bangladesh when a large population of the country was in poverty.

Here I would like to share a video of his speech given at the Emory University addressing the students of that university.

 So this was his primary mission, creating a world without poverty and for this he clearly says that people need initial funds to start earning by themselves and that is when this concept of "Grameen" banks was introduced.

Now lets see what this "Grameen" bank is all about and how it is different from the other traditional banks.
This bank is primarily owned by the members or the borrowers of the village and this bank is operated mostly in the villages where the main focus is on the poor people. There is no requirement of a guarantor or any collateral and people take loans and repay it with a small rate of interest. The bank gave money to the women of the family and took their trust that they would be repaying it back.

Apart from providing micro finance to the poor, the concept of social economic business was also brought in. This means that companies would be selling their products with a non profit motive. Mohammad Yunus took this concept to big corporate bodies and made them do this for the people in Bangladesh. Even the companies were ready to invest as they felt that they were serving a social cause.

Now this Grameen bank system has helped millions of people not only in Bangladesh but has also helped people all over the world and are reaching out to customers more than that of the traditional banks.

If this concept of micro finance and social economic business flourishes and expands then there would not be any poverty worldwide and finally we would have a world where all are equal.

Happy Reading:)
RAJA RS
PGDIM Section B