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Questions over Grameen Bank Commission

Star Business Report
The Grameen Bank Commission plans to submit an interim report on the microcredit organisation this month, amid allegations that the government-sponsored body is not functioning properly.
The 54 legally independent organisations bearing the Grameen name are also included in the investigation by the commission.
The commission will submit the final report to the government by March, a source close to the panel said yesterday.
On May 15 last year, the government formed the four-member body, led by a former secretary, to review
the activities of Grameen Bank and the 54 organisations and make recommendations on how to run the organisations.
The bank and financial institutions division of the finance ministry, which formed the committee through a circular, had asked the body to submit a report within three months of its formation.
But the deadline for submission was extended twice, due to long absence of a member and resignation of another.
The commission did not fully function initially, as Mosleh Uddin Ahmed, a chartered accountant, did not physically join until September last year due to illness, according to
sources close to the commission.
But by then, the first deadline for handing in the report had elapsed.
Furthermore, MA Kamal, the then director general of National Academy for Planning and Development, handed in his resignation from the body in September as the member secretary of the commission.
"I quit the commission as I had to go to the US and was unable to give it sufficient time," he told The Daily Star.
Kamal, who now teaches development studies at the East West University, said although he attended five to six meetings of the commission he never saw Mosleh Uddin Ahmed there.
they never saw the members of the commission at the bank's building.
“The commission never asked to meet us — they never came here. Sometimes, they sent letters through messengers asking for papers, and we reverted accordingly," said the official.
While one observer said: "How could the three-member commission work on the vast area of Grameen Bank and the 54 organisations and come up with a report — with such a small number ofworkforce?"
Questions surfaced over the authenticity of the report. "The outcome seems premeditated,” the observer said.
The central bank and the finance ministry are jointly providing office and manpower support, which is not more than 15, said a source.
Prof Yunus, who was forced to step down by the central bank as the managing director of the bank in 2011, questioned the necessity of such a commission.
In an interview with The Guardian in December last year, the microcredit pioneer said there had been no failure in the running of Grameen Bank to warrant an investigation.
The commission has been tasked to identify institutional strengths, weaknesses and constraints of Grameen Bank, while recommending measures for good governance, accountability of the management and transparency in the bank.
It will also recommend ways to bring the institution under the purview of state regulatory agencies.
The commission has also been asked to look into the purposes, legal status and operations of the 54 organisations Prof Yunus set up to advance his life-long journey to eradicate poverty.
However, a commission official yesterday said that Ahmed maintained e-mail correspondence with the body since its formation. Kamal's resignation made the commission a three-member committee, with the government yet to appoint a replacement.
Ahmed yesterday attended office, but could not be reached for comments as the commission officials did not allow the correspondent to speak to him.
Speaking to The Daily Star, Mamunur Rashid, president of the commission, categorically denied the allegations from a Bangla-language newspaper that the body is not functioning properly.
"Those allegations are totally baseless," he said, without giving any specifics.
The commission was formed amid criticism, with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a close friend of Nobel Laureate Prof MuhammadYunus, stating that the US government would not endorse any action of the Bangladesh government to undermine Grameen Bank's achievements.
Meanwhile, the inclusion of Barrister Ajmalul Hossain to the commission raised a major question: he represented Bangladesh Bank in its case against Prof Yunus after the microcredit pioneer was controversially removed from the bank in 2011.
"Is it proper and legal for him to be part of this inquiry commission?" questioned one observer of the Grameen Bank saga.
Moreover, it has been alleged that although the commission is working on Grameen Bank and the 54 organisations, it never visited the Grameen Bank building in Mirpur, where the bank and majority of the organisations are headquartered.
A senior official of Grameen Bank said