Samabaya Bank allocates Tk 90m in current fiscal

Talha Bin Habib Bangladesh Samabaya Bank Ltd has allocated Tk 90 million during the current fiscal year (2011-12) for income generation schemes for unemployed youths in the country, officials said. To reduce poverty by a significant margin, the Bank has taken up various programmes for imparting different trainings to unemployed youths. The bank has planned to bring down the poverty level to 15 per cent from existing 40 per cent by 2021. "We provide loans at 13 per cent interest to the youths to make them self-reliant. We've allocated Tk 90 million for income generation activities," a high official of the bank preferring anonymity told the FE Sunday. Out of the allocated Tk 90 million, the bank has earmarked Tk 30 million for alleviating poverty through promoting small and cottage industries, small business, development of 'samabaya haat' (cooperative markets) and bazaars and joint agriculture farms. It has also allocated Tk 60 million for rearing and fattening cows and cultivation of fish in the ponds. The Bank has also been providing loans to the woman entrepreneurs. The bank also established in 1948 with the name of East Pakistan Provincial Co-operative Bank. After the Independence, the bank started its functioning under the banner of Jatiya Samabaya Bank Ltd in 1972. Later it was renamed Bangladesh Samabaya Bank Ltd in 1978. The Bank has opened its new branch at the Samabaya Bank Bhaban at Agargaon in the capital in this month considering the growing role of cooperatives (samabaya) in helping the country to become self-reliant. At present there are three categories of samabaya cooperative -- the primary cooperative, the central cooperative and the national cooperative. There are 474 shareholders of the central cooperative who are the shareholders of the Bangladesh Samabaya Bank Ltd. The authorised capital of the Bank is Tk 1.0 billion (Tk 100,00,00,000) while the paid-up capital is Tk 44. 47 million (4,44,75,225). The cooperative members have 89 per cent share while the government has 11 per cent share of the Bank.