The Grameen Bank, a pioneer of microfinance through group lending, was founded in which country?
- A.India
- B.Bangladesh
- C.Sri Lanka
- D.Indonesia
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is B, Bangladesh. Muhammad Yunus began lending very small sums to poor women in groups, without collateral, and the experiment became the Grameen Bank; he and the bank were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006, and the model was studied by every country that later took up microfinance. Option A, India, adopted the idea in its own way through the SHG-Bank Linkage Programme of NABARD from 1992 and through microfinance institutions regulated by the Reserve Bank, but the Grameen Bank is not Indian. Option C, Sri Lanka, has a long tradition of cooperative thrift societies, and option D, Indonesia, is known for its village banking units, but neither is the answer. Remember the pairing of Yunus with Bangladesh and of the Malegam Committee with the regulation of microfinance in India.
Read the full article: Cooperatives and Self-Help Groups: Acts, NABARD and SHGs
Practice Questions
View allWhich was the first cooperative law enacted in India?
- A.The Cooperative Credit Societies Act, 1904
- B.The Cooperative Societies Act, 1912
- C.The Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 1984
- D.The Banking Regulation Act, 1949
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It was the first law on the subject and gave village credit societies a legal form, following the recommendation of the Famine Commission and the study of European land banks by Frederick Nicholson, with the German Raiffeisen societies as the model.
Read the full explanation →Cooperation as a subject of legislation falls in which list of the Seventh Schedule?
- A.The Union List
- B.The State List
- C.The Concurrent List
- D.It is a residuary subject
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The correct answer is B, the State List, where cooperative societies appear as entry thirty-two, which is why every State has its own cooperative societies Act and its own registrar of cooperative societies.
Read the full explanation →Which Part of the Constitution dealing with cooperative societies was inserted by the 97th Amendment?
- A.Part IXA
- B.Part IXB
- C.Part XIVA
- D.Part IVA
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The correct answer is B, Part IXB, made up of Articles 243ZH to 243ZT, which the Constitution (Ninety-seventh Amendment) Act, 2011 inserted to lay down rules on the board of a cooperative society, its five-year term, reservation of seats, audit and elections.
Read the full explanation →NABARD was established in which year?
- A.1969
- B.1975
- C.1982
- D.1991
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The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development began work on 12 July 1982 on the recommendation of the Committee to Review Arrangements for Institutional Credit for Agriculture and Rural Development, chaired by B. Sivaraman, and it has its head office at Mumbai.
Read the full explanation →In the three-tier short-term cooperative credit structure, which institution works at the village level?
- A.The State Cooperative Bank
- B.The District Central Cooperative Bank
- C.The Primary Agricultural Credit Society
- D.The Regional Rural Bank
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The correct answer is C, the Primary Agricultural Credit Society, the body of farmer members in a village or a group of villages that lends directly to the cultivator for seed, fertiliser and other short-term needs.
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