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Grameen Bank's founding managing director Muhammad Yunus has said it is now difficult to get government approval for projects initiated by or carrying the name 'Grameen'.
"We find it very difficult nowadays to get government approval. No one wants to process the file when they see the name 'Grameen'; apparently in fear of falling into trouble," he told a programme in Chittagong on Saturday.
"We get stuck for approval. We can't complain to anyone. We find problems here too," he said.  
The Nobel Peace Prize winner was speaking about his eagerness to set up a nursing college as a social business in Chittagong.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith has been saying that nothing could be done with Grameen Bank, the co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, because of Yunus' row with the Sheikh Hasina government over the bank's control.
In March 2011, Bangladesh Bank removed Yunus from the Grameen Bank as its managing director on the ground of crossing the official age limit. Yunus had challenged his dismissal in theTOP court but lost. Since then, he has been at loggerheads with the Hasina administration.
Many consider this as a political dispute because when theTOP politicians, including Hasina and former prime minister Khaleda Zia, were arrested during the 2007-08 military-backed caretaker government, the Nobel laureate expressed his eagerness to join politics.
Getting no positive response from the people, he backed off, but the issue of his political ambition remains as a topic of discussion in the political arena.
At Saturday's programme, Yunus said the problem with the government started during the making of the law related to the Grameen Bank decades ago.
"It was established in 1976 and transformed to a bank named Grameen Bank in 1983. The idea was that the members will be the owners and it will be run as a business. The profit will get back to the borrowers, not to someone outside the bank," Yunus said.
"When we went to make a law regarding the matter, the ministry said we could not do this without giving the government some shares. We fell into a trap and yet to come out of it. It sill continues," he added.
He said the crisis emanated from the issue of bank's ownership and blamed the government for it.
He said he did not agree to give the government more than five to 10 percent of the share but the government asked for 75 percent.
"I wanted it to be owned entirely by the poor.
"After a lengthy bargaining, the law was amended. The members were given 75 percent share and the government 25 percent. I was happy that the member became the owners. The law was made in such a way that the board will control everything. There board will comprise with representatives from the members and from the government. The board will control everything the government cannot dictate anything," he continued.
"Suddenly, the government expressed its 'eagerness' to control it, and the problem ensued," he added.

bdnews24.com