Dhaka City Corporation (Dhaka)

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A 15-storey city hall building containing offices, a bank, meeting rooms, a museum, dining facilities, a prayer hall,Mayor's Office and public terraces.

Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) is a self-governing corporation that is associated with the task of running the affairs of the city. The incorporated area is divided into several wards. Each ward has an elected ward commissioner. The mayor of the city is elected by popular vote every five years.

The area of the City Corporation at present is about 360 Sq. KMs. And population within the Corporation area according to 1991 census was 33,97,187. The area of Dhaka Metropolitan City is nearly 1530 Sq. KMs and an estimated population of 9.3 million live in this city.[1]

History
Dhaka Municipality was established on the Ist August, 1864. Prior to the establishment of the Municipality, a Committee of Improvement existed in the city as early as 1823. The Committee consisted of three members was headed by Mr. Walters, the then Collector of Dhaka. This Committee was replaced by another Committee named "Dhaka Committee" in 1840. with wider range of functions. This Committee too was appointed by the Government rather than constituted under any law and, as such, had no corporate entity of its own. District Municipal improvement (Act III B.C. of 1864) was introduced in Dhaka from the 1st August, 1864. The Act of 1884 recognised for the first time the elective principle in unambiguous term. The Chairman, the Vice-Chairman and two thirds of the Commissioners were to be elected. The first elected Chairman was Mr. Ananda Chandra Roy and the first elected Vice-Chairman was Mr. Khawaja Amirullah. It may be noted that municipal administration in Dhaka was, in point of the acceptance of the elective principle, much ahead of the local self-government in the Sub-continent as a whole. The next significant milestone was the Bengal Municipal Act of 1922. This Act extended franchise to women also who had so far been denied this right.


Dhaka City Corporation building at nightAfter the partition of India, Dhaka became the provincial capital of the then East Pakistan in 1947. The Dhaka Municipal Committee was superseded by the Govt. on the 19th of November, 1947. The reason for supersession was attributed to the inefficiencies in collection of taxes, development activities, etc. The term of supersession was extended by annual orders on the score of non-preparation of electoral rolls, until 1953. In December, 1953, the elected Chairman took over his office and again in August, 1959, Municipality was superseded. Dhaka became the capital of Bangladesh with the independence in the year 1971. City area was divided into 50 wards and election of Ward Commissioners was held in 1977 with the introduction of "Pourashava Ordinance, 1977". Ward Commissioners elected one of their members as the Chairman of the Municipality. In 1978, Dhaka Municipality was awarded the status of Corporation and the existing Chairman became the Mayor of the Corporation. Municipal corporation was superseded by the promulgation of Martial law in March, 1982. Two adjacent municipalities, namely Mirpur and Gulshan Municipalities were merged with Dhaka Municipality in the same year. As a result the number of wards increased to 56[2]. The Dhaka City Corporation has been entrusted with great responsibility of serving a large metropolis with a population now nearing approximately 13 million.

The corporation was statuted with the introduction of Dhaka Municipal Corporation Ordinance, 1993, repealing the application of Pourashava Ordinance, 1977. Later, number of wards was increased to 75 and Administrators/Mayors were appointed by the Govt. till 1994. In 1990, Dhaka Municipal Corporation was renamed as Dhaka City Corporation and was divided in to zones to fulfill the objectives of decentralization. In 1993, the Government with a view to democratize the city corporation, made drastic amendment in Ordinance, 1983 and repealing the application of pourashava that the Mayor and the Commissioners will be elected by direct election on the basis of adult franchise. The City area is divided into 90 wards to represent one Commissioner, elected directly, form each ward. There are 18 reserved seats exclusively for women Commissioners who are elected by the Mayor and the Commissioners. The election of the Corporation was held n January, 1994 and Mr. Mohammad Hanif became the first elected Mayor.[3]

[edit] Functions of Ward Commissioners
The Functions of Ward Commissioners have not been defined anywhere in the Ordinance. But by executive orders and by conventions, they perform some functions depending on the initiatives and effectiveness of the Ward Commissioners. DCC presently has 90 directly elected Ward Commissioners and 30 Women Commissioners for 30 reserved seats. Energetic Ward Commissioners can play an effective role for the interest of their wards. They are authorized to attend DCC and Standing Committee meetings. They can formulate development plans relating to their wards with assistance from the staff of the Zonal Executive Office and submit it for inclusion in DCC's development program. They are authorized sign the monthly salary bills of conservancy staff. Maintenance materials and spare parts required for street lighting of the ward are issued with their approval. The involvement of the Ward Commissioners in monitoring the delivery of a number of Ward level services, as mentioned earlier, highlights the role of the Ward Commissioners, both as a decision- maker and implementation of the city management.
Address: Dhaka South City Corporation:
Nagar Bhaban, Fulbaria, Dhaka-1000. Bangladesh
Phone: +880-2-9563504,9563506
Fax: 880-2-9563514
Email: administrator@dhakasouthcity.gov.bd
Website: www.dhakasouthcity.gov.bd