The employees of Grameen Bank on Thursday claimed that the new law to govern the microcredit agency would hamper both the loan collection and distribution procedure.
They made the observation while staging a sit-in outside Grameen Bank’s headquarters in the capital’s Mirpur area at 12:30pm. The employees also wore black badges protesting government “interference” in the legal structure of the bank.
Shamsul Alam, president of the bank's employees association, read a written statement during the programme.
The statement stated: “The employees of the organisation are in panic as the new changes could create conflicts between the central and branch members.”
On Wednesday founder and ex-managing director of Grameen Bank Dr Muhammad Yunus condemned the passage of the new law to govern the microcredit agency saying: “a great global iconic institution, created by this nation, has been brutally harmed by a group of irresponsible and thoughtless people”.
On Tuesday parliament passed the much-discussed Grameen Bank Act 2013, one that elevated the government’s role in the running of the microcredit organisation without any increase of its ownership stake.
“As the Grameen Bank has been running under an ordinance, it was necessary to enact a law,” Finance Minister AMA Muhith said in parliament before passing the bill.
