“Business has been misinterpreted by the economists. Apart from creating wealth, it also involves doing good to people. It is time that we have a social stock exchange for companies which do good for society on a no profit-no loss basis,” said Yunus, founder of Bangaldesh’s Grameen Bank engaged in micro-finance, during an interaction with prominent people and journalists at the Nehru centre at Worli.

The 2006 Nobel Peace Prize recipient said Grameen Bank in tie-up with a French company had started a nutritious yoghurt manufacturing venture recently for malnourished children.

Such companies can be listed on the social stock market and people can invest in the company of their choice. “Rather than the money it creates, the bottom-line for such companies will be how they are helping people and cost effectiveness.”

Criticising the modern micro finance institutions, Yunus said, “Micro credit and money lending are getting mixed. Many lend money and call it micro finance.”

During his initial remarks, Yunus spoke at length about how the experiment of Grameen Bank with 97 per cent of borrowers being women, had helped in their empowerment which had resulted in Bangladesh performing better on human indices. “Money going to family through women is much more beneficial than going through men. Wherever mother is the borrower, children are the immediate beneficiary,” Yunus said. However, answering a question regarding the women politicians in the country, Yunus said, “The women at top are not women in their mentality....they are like a man.”

Speaking on poverty, Yunus said it was a phenomenon created by the society and it is the society’s responsibility to help all the people to unleash their capacities by giving them the space so that nobody gets entangled in the problem.