Yunus calls for laws against loan sharks

Nobel Laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus yesterday expressed concern over "hijacking" of the microfinancing sector by "rich banks" and suggested formation of a regulatory body and enactment of laws to protect the microcredit sector from "loan sharks".
He stressed the need for discarding the economic theory that business is all about making profit and said all economic activities should focus on solving the problems of society.
Speaking at the inaugural session of an international conference on Technology Enhanced Education at Amrita Mutt near Kollam town in southern Indian state of Kerala, the Grameen Bank founder said it was important to use technology to improve the lives of the common man.
"Business is also for solving problems in society and not merely to make money," he said.
Recalling his experience in developing Grameen Bank to help poor women in rural areas of Bangladesh, Yunus said 97 percent of 8.3 million beneficiaries of various schemes of Grameen Bank were women.
Explaining how he used technology to solve the energy crisis in Bangladesh, he said promotion of solar energy had greatly helped solve the power crunch.
In 1990s, nearly 70 percent of the population in rural areas had no access to electricity. The situation had changed dramatically with the introduction of "solar home system" which his organisation had promoted, Yunus said.
Right now, about 750,000 solar systems are operating in Bangladesh, which could go up to 1 million by the middle of his year. A similar revolution had also taken place in the use of mobile phones, he said.