Poverty can be eradicated: Yunus

from The Hindu

B. Muralidhar Reddy

COLOMBO: Nobel laureate and noted economist, Mohammad Yunus, is of the firm belief that poverty could be put into museums by unshackling the existing economic and social systems created by humans.

Delivering the key note address at the South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) here on Saturday on the theme of “peace and poverty”, Dr. Yunus argued that poverty is the cause of theoretical framework on assumptions which underestimate human capacity and concepts which are too narrow.

At the conference attended by over 250 journalists from South Asia and inaugurated by Sri Lanka Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake, the Nobel prize winner economist maintained that concepts such as business, credit worthiness, entrepreneurship need to be redefined and redesigned.

Dr. Yunus said his Grameen Bank experience of lending to poor to enable them attain their optimum earning capacity has convinced him that a poverty-free world is feasible if there is collective belief and will.

Since it was born in 1984, the bank has lent $6.3 billion to the marginalised with 98.61 per cent recovery rate. As per a survey of the bank, 64 per cent of its borrowers have crossed the poverty line.
Innovative models

The economist said the challenge is to produce innovative social benefit models that apply to healthcare, education, training, marketing for the poor and areas such as renewable energy.

“Social business is important because it addresses the very vital concerns of mankind. It can change the lives of the bottom 60 per cent of the world population and help them get out of poverty”, he said.

Dr. Yunus said the problem of poverty cannot be coped within the “orthodoxy of capitalism with the failure of many third world countries in running businesses, health, education and welfare programmes efficiently.

He said while he wholeheartedly endorsed the prescription of handing over these sectors to the private sector, there was need for a ‘social consciousness’ driven private sector, created by private entrepreneurs.”

He was of the view that powerful multi-national social businesses can be created to retain the benefit of globalisation for the poor and poor countries.

Dr. Yunus said building strong economies in the poor countries by protecting their national interests from plundering companies would be a major area of interest for the social businesses.

In his inaugural address, the Prime Minister called the media to play a “A more serious, a more responsible role to help build a better life” for all people although it can also be used to titillate and to amuse which is mostly acceptable in the West.

“What is Asia’s biggest problem? It is poverty. Large masses of our people lack the basic needs of a decent living,” Prime Minister said.

“These are the questions that the media must explore, discuss and offer answers to. That would be meaningful functioning of this institution known as the media,” he said.