Bangladeshi social entrepreneur and Nobel laureate, Prof. Muhammad Yunus, visited Jain (Deemed-to-be University) and shared his ideas on social business with the faculty.

Having initiated the concept of microfinance and eventually being termed as the ‘Father of MicroFinance’, Yunus has been involved in social entrepreneurship. Grameen Bank has disbursed $13 billion till date, which has been borrowed by 9 million borrowers, lowering the poverty rate in Bangladesh from 56 per cent to 31 per cent.

Yunus addressed the gathering and stated how this social movement was not pre-planned by him; rather, he was driven by circumstances of famine in the country. It all began when he impulsively lent $27 to 42 needy people and requested them to return the money when possible, because he believed that charity would only make the poor dependent.

In order to break the cycle of poverty, the bank took on the responsibility of educating the children of the borrowers. They lent the Grameen families educational loans, allowing their children to study as much as they could because the children were as good as anybody else, and only needed an opportunity, he said. Yunus encouraged young people to approach the Grameen Bank with ideas, who would invest in those ideas, become partners with them, and help them run the business.

Then, the new entrepreneurs would keep their profits and return the amount lent to them, so that the bank could use it to lend to other budding entrepreneurs. “The idea of unemployment arises from the concept of employment, so we must aim at becoming entrepreneurs. All it takes is a micro-credit, to become an entrepreneur, and if a person with limited education can become one, why not anybody else,” he said.