Books and Research

The Rural Development Scheme (RDS) of the Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL) was
launched in 1995 to cater the needs of poor mass of Bangladesh through Islamic
microfinance projects. It is indulged in a severe competition from its conventional giant
counterparts like Nobel Peace Prize awarded Grameen Bank, and Bangladesh Rural
Advancement Committee (BRAC), the largest NGO in the world. Yet, RDS has so far
proven a remarkable growth rate of 12 percent. This research examines the
performances of RDS throughout the years, and provides a comparison with its major
counterparts in terms of success and failure. It also analyzes RDS’s contribution to the
society and the impact it has kept so far in achieving its goals and objectives.
Key words: Rural Development Scheme (RDS), microfinance, Islamic microfinance,
poverty alleviation