'Let's compete in poverty eradication'

from The Times of India

PUNE: Nobel laureate and founder of the famous Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, Muhammad Yunus, on Saturday egged on Maharashtra to compete with Bangladesh in eradication of poverty by 2030 and set up a ‘poverty museum’.

He was speaking at the inauguration of the international high-tech agriculture exhibition and convention of women’s self-help groups (SHGs) at the College of Agriculture.

Addressing the gathering, Yunus said poverty in Bangladesh was reducing at 2 per cent per year, thanks to the stellar role played by the Grameen Bank. "We aim to eradicate 50 per cent poverty by 2015 and plan to eliminate it completely by 2030."

He said that when they achieve the target, they would publish a full page advertisement announcing a cash award of $10 lakh to those who can find a poor person in the country. "Our next target is to build a poverty museum so that the younger generation learns what poverty is all about and vows never to succumb to it."

"Why don’t we compete (Maharashtra and Bangladesh)? Let us see who builds the first ever poverty museum," he challenged amidst loud cheers from the audience.

Yunus held the audience spellbound with his narration of how he started the Grameen Bank with the help of self-help groups of poor people, especially women; how he ignored the ‘standard’ norms of banking practised by conventional banks and empowered the 7.5 million borrowers.