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Grameen
Bank Project became a specialized bank in October, 1983. Concrete
steps were taken in early 1984 to computerize the Bank'$ management
information system. It took us three years to computerize
the central MIS at the head office. All Zonal Offices were
computerized by 1988.
Grameen
Bank expanded rapidly during 1-984 -1992 and by 1992 Grameen
Bank was operating in more than 20 thousand villages through
1000 branches, mostly located in the remote areas of the country
.The bank had over one million clients. With the growth of
the bank both in horizontal and vertical directions, workload
and paper work also increased substantially.
To increase
the operational efficiency of the bank it was imperative to
minimize the paper work particularly at the branch level.
Given the limitations of electric supply in the country it
was not possible to computerize the desired number of branches.
In 1993, first attempt was made to computerize one branch
inNarshingdi area of Dhaka zone, where electricity was available
from the national grid. However, since 1993 GB has come a
long way. At the end of 1998, 201 branches had been computerized.
Year-wise progress of branch computerization is given below:
|
Progress
with Branch Computerization
|
 (No.
of Branches) |
|
Sl
#
|
Zone
|
1995
|
1996
|
1997
|
1998
|
Total
|
|
1.
|
Chittagong |
2
|
5
|
5
|
0
|
12
|
|
2.
|
Tangail |
1
|
11
|
5
|
15
|
32
|
|
3.
|
Rangpur |
2
|
0
|
10
|
0
|
12
|
|
4.
|
Dhaka |
2
|
7
|
5
|
25
|
39
|
|
5.
|
Patuakhali |
0
|
0
|
5
|
0
|
5
|
|
6.
|
Bogra |
2
|
0
|
8
|
0
|
10
|
|
7.
|
Sylhet |
0
|
2
|
5
|
0
|
7
|
|
8.
|
Rajshahi |
0
|
2
|
5
|
0
|
7
|
|
9.
|
Dinajpur |
2
|
0
|
7
|
10
|
19
|
|
10.
|
Faridpur |
0
|
1
|
5
|
0
|
6
|
|
11.
|
Comilla |
1
|
5
|
2
|
0
|
8
|
|
12.
|
Mymensingh |
0
|
2
|
5
|
0
|
7
|
|
13.
|
Narayanganj |
1
|
8
|
5
|
13
|
27
|
|
14.
|
Khulna |
1
|
0
|
5
|
0
|
6
|
|
15.
|
Noakhali |
0
|
1
|
3
|
0
|
4
|
|
Total
|
14
|
44
|
80
|
63
|
201
|
|
With the
improvement of power supply in the rural areas, it will be
possible to continue expansion of computerization at the branch
level. Where power from the grid will not be available computer
can be run with the help of solar power. In 1998 computer
was operated successfully in a branch, powered by solar energy
on an experimental basis.
In 1998
internet connections was given to two-third of the zonal offices
through facilities provided by Grameen Communications, a sister
company of Grameen Bank that extended technical assistance
for the computerization programme of Grameen Bank branches.
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