Zero poverty is achievable: Yunus

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Noted economist Muhammad Yunus today said zero poverty is possible and achievable, if the government activates its citizens.

While delivering the 16th Lecture of Odisha Knowledge Hub (OKH) here, he said "Removing poverty needs activating the citizens. This cannot be done only through government money. It can be achieved through appropriate policy, institutions and strong willingness," Yunus said.

"Zero poverty, zero unemployment and zero carbon emission are not academic concepts; they are jobs and can be realized through joint action," he said.

The Nobel laureate further said that micro credit system through the models of social banking adopted by Grameen Bank he founded has proved successful in Bangladesh.

The technique has helped lakhs of families remove poverty and has also proved its worth in empowering women of Bangladesh enormously.

Younus is considered a pioneer of micro finance and was co-awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 along with Grameen Bank - the micro-credit organisation he created to provide loans to the poor in Bangladesh.

He emphasized that the similar banking model has also been successfully tried in different western countries. Yunus expressed confidence that the same model can be replicated in India and elsewhere for removing the poverty by improving banking access to poor people.

"Every individual has the qualities of entrepreneurship and through opening their access to credit that his/her productivity can be enhanced," he said.

Yunus noted that Odisha has taken the lead in 'knowledge sharing and good governance through the institution of OKH and the model should be followed by other states.

Development Commissioner and Additional Chief Secretary R Balakrishnan, who attended the meeting, said the micro finance model initiated by Yunus is a proven model both in Bangladesh and USA.

Finance and Excise Minister S B Behera presented the OKH memento to Yunus in commemoration of his visit to the state.

Yunus reciprocated by presenting his recently published book A World of Three Zeros to the minister.