Yunus wants Sonia to open microcredit banks for women

from The Daily India

By Indo Asian News Service

New Delhi, Jan 31 (IANS) Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus wants to open a non-profit microcredit institution for women in India that could be headed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Although the government has not officially agreed, it is positive to the idea, said party insiders.

Yunus, who spoke to Sonia Gandhi on the sidelines of the two-day international conference on Mahatma Gandhi's Satyagraha centenary that ended Tuesday, told the Congress chief that she should take the initiative in promoting microcredit in the country.

As of now, the government does not have a microfinance institute though there are NGOs working in the field.

Yunus reportedly told Indian leaders that Bangladesh's Grameen Bank model on microcredit could work in India. 'But microfinance should be recognised as a legitimate business with a legal status in India.'

So, if Sonia Gandhi wants to accept his proposal, India needs to meet a number of institutional requirements and give budgetary support to the microfinance sector.

'During his discussions with Sonia Gandhi, Yunus expressed his desire to promote microcredit institutions for women in India. He wanted the Congress president to head it,' said a party leader.

'Sonia Gandhi was very positive about the suggestion. She is expected to discuss it with the government and give a formal response to his proposal.

'The Congress president believes that microcredit institutions will help economic development percolate to the grassroots level,' the party leader added.

Yunus, who heads the Grameen Bank Trust, won last year's Nobel Peace Prize for his network of microcredit institutions that have given credit worth $4.4 million to 4.4 million families in Bangladesh. On Wednesday, he will inaugurate a branch of the Grameen Bank Trust in Mumbai. The trust will begin work in Assam also.

Sonia Gandhi and her MP son Rahul have been propagating microcredit institutions for the rural sector. Rahul, who toured southern states to learn about women self-help groups and microcredit financing, reportedly wanted to introduce such institutions in north India, particularly in his and his mother's constituencies in Uttar Pradesh.

Copyright Indo-Asian News Service