Poverty Elimination

About three-forth of the total population of this planet are victims of poverty.   Those who are fortunate and well endowed do not spend time thinking about the problems of the poor.   The poor themselves are so preoccupied with the survival that they do not enjoy the luxury of thinking beyond the next meal.   The largest proportions of the poor reside in South Asia and the Sub-Saharan region.
            Everyone is familiar with the Nobel laureate Mohammad Yunus and the story of the successful model of poverty eradication of Bangladesh’s Grameen Bank.   Prof. Yunus asserts that poverty is not a naturally ordained state of human existence.   Poverty is unnatural as is human slavery and the colonial domination of countries.   It is therefore natural to conclude that poverty need not be everlasting as indeed slavery or colonization were not.  
            Prof. Yunus believed that every human being is born with equal abilities, but with access to different degrees of opportunities.   So he prescribes that if there was a way by which opportunities could be evenly spread out and made available to all, deprivation and poverty might be eradicated.
            Prof. Yunus’s anguish and enquiries were triggered by the spectre of widespread deaths owing to starvation of the poor during a famine in Bangladesh.   This reinforced the fact that not only do the poor not have access to resources during normal times, but this lack of access becomes fatal during periods of crisis.   This further reinforces the fact that credit is only available to the prosperous section, while the poor who desperately need credit has no one to lend them.
            The success story of Bangladeshi Grameen Bank is widely known.   It started 30 years ago and according to Prof. Yunus, 80% of poor households in Bangladesh today have access to micro credit.   Their target is to cover all households by 2010.   The impact is reflected by Bangladesh’s superior ranking as compared to it’s South Asian neighbours...