The Grameen Bank inquiry committee has come down hard on the then Awami
League government for failing to take action, way back in 1999, when
irregularities were detected by the central bank.
The
committee led by an economics professor Dr A K Monaw-war Uddin Ahmad in
its report submitted to the finance minister on Monday also called for
an inquiry into the regulatory failure and criticised the government.
"In
1999, irregularities including the Managing Director's continuance
beyond expiry of his tenure were mentioned in the Bangladesh Bank
inspection report on Grameen Bank. But for 12 long years, the
government did not take any action.
"Had the government taken appropriate action, the present situation would not have arisen.
"It
demands an investigation as to what social, economic or political
considerations kept the government silent about the issue," the report
said.
"It is a Statutory Public Authority according to the
Article 152 of the Constitution," the committee said, pointing to the
fact that the bank was founded by a martial law ordinance in 1983.
"This is not an NGO, not is it a bank or a bank company or a scheduled bank.
"Though its microcredit operations are similar to those of NGOs, the government owns 25 percent of it by law.
"But the government rather than taking this opportunity marginalised itself (to 3.29 percent).
"The government must fix this (anomaly)," said the report.
Despite
being a microlender, the committee says, Grameen Bank has not been
under the purview of the Microcredit Regulatory Authority, because it
is not defined as a micro-finance organisation by the 2006 law that
created the regulatory body.
The committee has suggested changes to the relevant laws to ensure its regulation by the Authority.
The
report recommends that all the Grameen companies be "reorganised and
redefined" to bring about a culture of discipline in the "large
conglomerate".
It also suggests liquidation of Grameen Fund
and Grameen Kalyan, creating departments within the bank to take over
their operations. "This will ensure accountability."
source : bdnews24.com
