Nobel will help poverty elimination in South Asia

However, the award, in a critically important field like micro-credit for improving the economic life of the poor, has added a different dimension since a large number of people across the world remain mired under the curse of abject poverty.

Relentless efforts to reduce the scale of poverty have met with mixed fortunes, but there is hardly any option other than continuing such efforts with greater vigour and determination, both at government and non-government level.

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There was speculation, before the announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize award, that the 2006 prize was likely to go to political leaders or statesmen because of their contributions to establishing peace and harmony, and in resolving international conflicts that caused tensions and violence. Some names were also being mentioned, and one could assume that the focus was riveted on them for obvious reasons.

But, finally, it was Bangladesh's micro-credit pioneer, Dr Muhammad Yunus and his famed Grameen Bank who were chosen, setting at rest all such speculations. It was a surprise, although not a total one, since even though Yunus's name did not figure much this year while he was certainly a strong contender before.

According to former American president Bill Clinton the Bangladeshi social and economic reformer should have won it earlier, since his concept and the Grameen Bank had earned laurels in the outside world long ago. Several countries, as well as Clinton's home state Arkansas, are familiar with the Grameen Bank and Dr Yunus, so much so that the person and the institution have become somewhat synonymous with Bangladesh there.

As such, the winning of the prize was expected for Dr Yunus, even though it came somewhat as a surprise, and this gave added jubilation to the people. The development has made the nation proud and the extent of the pride and glory is so enormous that it has hardly any parallel. This is a gain which has been acclaimed all across the world without any controversy.

The Nobel Peace Prize has made this country known when it was, hitherto, largely unknown. It has given us a new height and status despite our manifold failures and limitations. For this, we all remain tremendously grateful to the person and the institution which have made untiring efforts over the last three decades to bring innovative methods to help the poor, starting from a program in small and obscure Jobra village in Chittagong.

The expression of joy by the ecstatic crowds, both at home and abroad, is only the fitting demonstration of the state of mind of a nation, which, unfortunately, only seldom finds scope for national rejoicing, let alone for something of such unbelievable magnitude like the greatest award in the world, and that too in the most talked-about and important area like peace.

Yes, we are now the "peace-makers" at the global level, since elimination of poverty is inextricably linked with true peace, and Yunus and Grameen Bank have been universally recognized as being great contributors to this noble mission. The Nobel Peace Prize will definitely provide inspiration for the daunting task of poverty eradication all over the world, particularly in the poverty-ridden regions, including our South Asia.

It is also probably just a co-incidence that the Congress, led by Sonia Gandhi, which is the main partner of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) alliance in India, announced that it is bringing back the slogan "Garibi Hatao" which its leader the late Indira Gandhi coined, and which helped the party win resounding victories in the early seventies.

Over the last three decades, India made remarkable progress in many areas, ranging from Information to nuclear technology, but progress in the field of "Garibi Hatao" has been disappointingly scant.

This is one reason which contributed to the defeat of the previous NDA government, led by charismatic Atal Bihari Vajpayee, in the last election when "Shining India" failed to attract the voters in the rural areas to the glittering urban development that is really spectacular. The present government is attaching more importance to rural development and poverty alleviation.

Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and chairperson of the ruling UPA alliance Sonia Gandhi have profusely congratulated Prof Yunus on his winning the Nobel prize, while praising the micro-credit progress of the Grameen Bank. One may be inclined to believe that this award might have encouraged the Congress to revert to the "Garibi Hatao" slogan.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shawkat Aziz, known as a successful administrator in the field of economics, while congratulating Yunus said that his country is following the concept and wants to enlarge its application.

Other South Asian nations, struggling to improve the socio-economic conditions of the vast multitude in the rural areas, are expected to be encouraged by the award. The Saarc and the Cirdap (Centre for Integrated Rural Development in the Asia and Pacific), which have already swung into the task of eradication of poverty with all seriousness, will also find new encouragement in their work from this award since it has come to this region and in the field relevant to their work.

The Grameen Bank program of micro-credit is now familiar to many countries since there no dearth of poor people even in the developed nations. It has been considered in the last few years as a commendable idea in the developing countries -- notwithstanding some confusion associated with it.

In 1989 I was present at a seminar in Kuala Lumpur where Dr.Yunus was the key speaker on the micro-credit issue. After a long lecture he replied to several complex and delicate questions on the subject, since the Grameen Bank concept in some ways also countered conventional banking systems, like giving loans without collateral -- however small the loan. A Malaysian professor of Chinese origin, sitting next to me, also asked questions, and later observed that he felt that this gentleman from Bangladesh was likely to get some "big" award someday for this new concept that would help the poor rural people -- mainly women. His comments now rings a bell in my ear!

The concept was followed in Malaysia several years ago and gained wide acceptance. This year's Nobel Peace Prize will provide new stimulation to the unremitting struggle for poverty alleviation in the world at large, and particularly in densely populated South Asia of 1.4 billion people, a large segment of which is cursed with the vicious cycle of poverty.

Zaglul Ahmed Chowdhury is a senior journalist.