Professor Younus has been ousted by the government from his own institution that developed the concept of micro finance and helped shape the banking industry as we see it today. The reason given by the Bangladesh Bank is that he has passed his retirement age.
The founder of Grameen Bank and a Nobel Prize winner, Muhammad Younus is celebrated as a hero in Bangladesh, whose micro finance model has been embraced by developed countries all over the world including USA, China and Europe. Microcredit enables poor people to carry out economic activities, to propel them out of the poverty cycle.
Some people believe it to be a government propganda against Muhammad Younus who had once tried to enter the political arena and had formed his own political party, but it soon fizzled out. Sheikh Hasina, current prime minister of Bangladesh, was reported to have said that micro finance institutions suck the blood out of the poor in the name of eradicating poverty. The high interest rates charged by micro finance institutions have come under severe criticism recently.
Yunus was in the thick of the heat with the sudden broadcast of a documentary film on a Norwegian TV channel which alleged that Grameen had transferred donor's money, given to Grameen Bank, to another sister organisation. The allegation was widely circulated in Bangladesh on the day the documentary was broadcast, through an online news portal. Later, Norway refuted the allegations saying no irregularities or corruption had taken place" (Daily Star)
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