Kalam for separate law for micro credit in Indian villages

DHAKA: Lauding the efforts of Bangladesh's Grameen Bank, former President A P J Abdul Kalam has said that he will promote the idea of a separate law for micro credit in Indian villages.

Kalam, on his three-day Bangladesh tour, visited the Grameen Bank headquarters here yesterday to exchange views with Mohammad Yunus, whose experiment with rural banking earned him global praise and the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006.

Kalam said he wanted to meet Prof Yunus to learn about the detailed working of Grammen Bank so that micro credit could be incorporated into the approach of his own initiatives in the villages of India through Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas (PURA).

The nobel Laureate and micro credit guru presented a Hindi edition of his book titled 'Banker of the Poor' to the former Indian president, the Daily Star reported.

Yunus said the Grameen Bank would be delighted to help in his effort to set up micro credit programme in India as it is already involved in Kerala.

Kalam, who was the President between 2002 and 2007, also called for a joint effort to revive the golden fibre jute through research and by means of technology, the report said.