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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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