The Comilla Model was a rural development programme launched in 1959 by the Pakistan Academy for Rural Development (renamed in 1971 the Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development). The Academy, which is located on the outskirts of Comilla town, was founded by Akhter Hameed Khan, the cooperative pioneer who was responsible for developing and launching the programme. While the results of the Model ultimately frustrated Khan’s ambitions, it has important implications for rural community development, particularly cooperative microfinance and microcredit