The government plans to abolish the Grameen Bank ordinance and set up a new law to elect the bank’s directors and increase its authorised and paid-up capital as the number of the bank’s shareholders has increased over the years.
“We will hold an inter-ministerial meeting to finalise procedures to turn the ordinance into a law on August 14 at the finance ministry,” an official of the Banking Division told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
According to the new rules, nine directors will be elected after being scrutinised by two electorates appointed by the GB management.
The Grameen Bank Ordinance 1983 will be abolished in favour of the Grameen Bank Law 2013.
The Banking Division has recommended increasing Grameen Bank’s capital to Tk3.5bn from the existing Tk30m and its paid-up capital to Tk3bn from the existing Tk59m.
The proposal prepared by a two-member committee recommends that the government fix the date for the election within six months from the execution of the law. It will also have the authority to set the directors’ tenures.
The committee, which was formed three months ago comprising Supreme Court’s Additional Attorney General Murad Raza and IFIC Bank Managing Director M Shah Alam Sarwar, submitted its recommendations to the Bank and Financial Institution Division on June 16.
Currently, the nine female directors of the Grameen Bank are elected from among the borrowers for a three-year term while the government nominates three other directors, including the chairman.
Tahsina Khatun, one of the GB directors, alleged that the government move threatened to politicise the bank because the draft proposal grants the government more authority to exercise its power in the bank.
As per the draft rules, the 8.4 million GB shareholders will take part in the general election to elect 15 representatives.
Two electorates with nine special and 15 deputy electorates will be appointed by the bank’s management to oversee the election of nine directors. They will scrutinise records of the representatives elected in the general elections.
The 15 members will cast votes to elect the nine-strong board of directors, according to the draft. The three other directors, including the chairman, will be appointed by the government.
The nine directors will hold their posts for three years, but one-third of them should be dropped through lottery or mutual understanding after the expiry of the board’s tenure. The retired directors will not be able to participate in the election for two consecutive years, says the draft.
The bank’s secretary will assist in organising the election and have the authority to declare any voter disqualified. The returning officer and deputy returning officer will be treated as deputy election commissioners.
Two months ago, the government injected Tk132m to increase 25% share of the government in the Grameen Bank. Previously, it was only Tk30m.
Former adviser to a caretaker government AB Mirza Azizul Islam told the Dhaka Tribune that the government should stop its “act of drama” for amending the Grameen Bank ordinance and complete the task immediately “which will be good for the micro-lender.”
