Department of Public Administration

Jagannath University, Dhaka.

Field Visit Report on Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC)

Course Code: PAD-2102

Course Name: Local Government in Bangladesh

Submitted To:
Shamima Akhter
Associate Professor,
Department of Public Administration,
Jagannath University, Dhaka.

Submitted By:
Yausub Ali
B190407004
Second Year First Semester
Department of Public Administration,
Jagannath University, Dhaka.

Date of Submission: 10 May, 2022

Field Visit Report on Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC)

Visit Place: Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC)

Location: Nagar Bhaban (Headquarters)

Date of Visit: 20 April, 2022

Organised by: Shamima Akhter

Associate Professor,
Department of Public Administration,
Jagannath University, Dhaka.

Objectives of the Feild Visit:

To know how to work the field level local government system.

To know what is the functions and Roles of Dhaka south City orporation.
To know what is the Structure of Dhaka south City Corporation.
To know what is the Obstacles of Dhaka south city corporation.
ABSTRACT:
Last month, our honorable teacher Shamima Akhter organized an Educational tour
to the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC). And also organised a seminar on
local government administrative system in Bangladesh. This seminar was organized
for the students to acquire knowledge of the top level local Local government
administrative system in Bangladesh. It was a one day trip As many as there were
68 students.

The honorable Deputy Secretary and Personal Secretary to the Mayor of DSCC
Mohammad Marufur Rashid Khan was present there. He briefed a beautiful speech
in the seminar. What is Dhaka City Corporation? Evaluation of Dhaka City
Corporation, Structure of DSCC, How the Dhaka South City Corporation works?
What is the roles and functions of DSCC? Obstacles of Dhaka south city corporation
etc.

All the students noted down this speech and asked some question. He was properly
answered those question in that seminar.

Now, I am describing what I was learned from this field visit to the Dhaka South
City Corporation.

Introduction:

Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) is a local government body engaged in the
management of the southern part of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. It is a city
administration and autonomous institution of Bangladesh. The Dhaka South City
Corporation is in charge of managing the southern part of Dhaka city as a whole.

It is one of the two municipal corporations in Dhaka created when the former Dhaka
City Corporation was divided into two by the Local Government City Corporation
Amendment Bill 2011 on 29 November 2011, passed in the Parliament of
Bangladesh, following the President's approval.Dhaka South has a long history,
including that of European arrival and colonization.
Dhaka was founded in 1608 A.D.as the capital of the Province by Islam Khan Chisti
during the regime of Mughal Emperor Zahangir. With the establishment of Mughal
control over the region, Dhaka continued functioning as the capital of Bengal,
Behar, Orissa and retained the status till 1717. In 1905, Dhaka Was became the
capital of a new province comprising East Bengal and Assam. A great deal of
construction took place to house the new administration. This was cut short by
annulling the partition of Bengal in 1911. In 1947, the city emerged as the provincial
capital of East Pakistan and embraced the historic movements and finally the victory
in the War of Liberation. After independence,

Dhaka became the capital of Bangladesh in 1971. It is the 9th largest city in the
world and also 28th among the most densely populated cities in the world. Dhaka
South City Corporation is the distinct part of previous Dhaka City Corporation,
which was spilt into two parts, Dhaka south city corporation and Dhaka north City
Corporation. According to the existing law (Dhaka Municipal Corporation
Ordinance, 1983), the executive power of the Corporation vests in and exercised by
the Mayor (Administrator). The Corporation constitutes Several Standing
Committees and other Committees to monitor and guide the diversified activities of
the organization. The Mayor is assisted by the Chief Executive Officer, who in turn,
is assisted by the Secretary, the Heads of Departments and Zonal Executive Officers.

Evaluation of Dhaka City Corporation :

Dhaka Municipality was established on the 1st 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. District Municipal improvement
(Act III B.C. of 1864) was introduced in Dhaka from the 1st August, 1864. Through
the introduction of this Act the "Dhaka Municipal Committee" was formed. The
District Magistrate was ex-officio Chairman and such persons as the Lieutenant-
Governor would appoint, were the Vice-Chairman.
The Act of 1884 recognized 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. 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.

The Municipal Administration Ordinance of 1960 repealed all previous municipal

laws and provided that the chairmen would be an official member appointed by and
holding office during the pleasure of the Govt. The commissioners elected one of
their members to be the Vice-Chairmen. The Government in 1960 divided the city
area into 25 Unions, which were later enhanced by 30 Unions in 1964. The
Chairmen of the Union Councils were the members of the Dhaka Municipality.
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. The corporation
was statured with the introduction of the Dhaka Municipal Corporation Ordinance,
1983, 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, 1993 and repealing the application of pourashava that the
Mayor and the Commissioners will be elected by direct election. The election of the
Corporation was held on January, 1994 and Mr. Mohammad Hanif became the first
elected Mayor. The Local Govt. (City Corporation) Amendment Act (2011), Dhaka
City Corporation has divided as Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) and Dhaka
North City Corporation (DNCC).
Structure of Dhaka South City Corporation:

According to the Statute, an urban area must fulfill three characteristics before being
declared as pourashava or city corporation , such as:

(i) three-fourths of the adult male population of the area must be employed mainly
in non- agricultural occupations,
(ii) such area must contain not less than fifteen thousand population, and
(iii) the density of population should not be less than two
thousand inhabitants per square mile.

The City Corporation is composed of Mayor, Commissioners, Women

Commissioners and Official Commissioners. The Mayor is the chief Executive of
the city corporation directly elected by the people. The Commissioners and Women
Commissioners are also elected by the people from different wards of the city
corporation . The number of commissioner, women commissioner and total number
of wards are fixed by the government on the basis of area and population . The
government also fixes the number of official commissioners who are the heads of
different urban development agencies in respective areas. At present Dhaka South
City Corporation has 75 Wards. It has total 100 councillors that consists 75 elected
Councillors and 25 elected female councillors

At present, Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh is the Mayor of Dhaka South City
Corporation (DSCC). In 2020, he won the Dhaka Mayoral Election and became the
mayor of Dhaka South City Corporation.
Roles and Functions of DSCC:

DSCC performs multi-dimensional function for the dwellers living within the
corporation area. Its functions included public health, water supply and drainage,
matters related to food and drink, animals, construction and maintenance of roads,
street lighting, street watering, public safety, maintenance of parks and gardens and
forests, education, culture, social welfare and general development of the city. In
addition, the City Corporation may perform any functions delegated to it by the
government.

Functions performed by DSCC include-

Public Health: Public health related functions of DSCC are –Sanitation,

Removal and disposal of refuse, Unsanitary buildings, Latrines and urinals,
Birth, death and marriage registration, Infectious diseases, Health and
maternity centers, Public health, Hospital and dispensaries, Medical aid and
relief etc.

Animals related Functions : Maintenance and control Animals husbandry ,

Stray animals , Animal homes and farms, Registration of sale of cattle,
Livestock improvement, Dangerous animals, Cattle show, zoos, Disposal of
carcasses etc. are animal related functions of DSCC.

Public Safety: Taking measures for Civil defense, Floods, Famine, Dangerous
and offensive articles and Burial and burning places.

Water Supply and Drainage: Water Supply and Drainage related functions
involve- Water Supply, Private sources of water supply, Drainage schemes,
Bathing and washing places, Dhobi Ghats & washer men, Public water courses,
Public ferries, Public fisheries etc.

Articles of Food and Drinks related Functions: formulating and implementing

bye laws, Milk supply, Public markets, Private markets and Slaughter house
are such functions of DSCC.

Cultural Functions: Cultural functions include – maintenance of public Library,

Fairs and shows, Cultural centers etc.
Development Functions of Dhaka city corporation : various development
functions including Development plans, Community development project,
Commercial schemes ,Health development project, Slum development etc. are
development functions that are performed by DSCC.

Educational Functions of Dhaka city corporation : Accelerating Compulsory

education, General Provision about education, scholarship, vocational education
facilities and other informal education including adult literacy , education for
people with disabilities and education for street children. Mayor Ward
Commissioners and women Commissioners Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Other appointed officials

Streets maintenance: General provision about streets, Public streets,

Encroachment, Streets lighting, Streets watering, Traffic control, Public vehicles
are some important street related functions of DSCC.
Trees, Parks, Gardens and Forests : Maintenance of Arboriculture, Gardens,
Open Spaces, Forests, Nuisances pertaining to tree and Tank and low-lying
areas.

Urban Planning: Formulating and implementing Master plan , Site development

schemes and Execution of site development scheme.

Online Birth Certificate Activities: Dhaka City Corporation has started online
birth certificate activities in Zone-5 as a pilot project. At Present, this online
services has extended all zones of DCC. So, now the honorable citizens can
apply for birth certificate both manual and online system. The address of this
website is www. bris.lgd.gov.bd/pub. As per Govt. decision the applicant age is
more than 18 (eighteen) years then he/she should pay 50/-(fifty) taka otherwise
it is free.

Mosquito Extermination Activities: Dhaka South City Corporation has taken

various initiatives to eradicate mosquitoes. Mosquito control is very important
to prevent dengue in the city. That is why every year, apart from the monsoon
season, various activities are carried out to kill mosquitoes throughout the year.
For this, they have taken many programme.
Organizational chart Mayor holds the top position of the chart as chief
administrative of the corporation. Under him their have both elected
representatives and government appointed officials. CEO is the executive head of
the corporation and all appointed officials work under him including 16
departmental heads, secretary of the corporation and 5 zonal officers.

The departments of DSCC are :

Accounts department, Conservancy department, Engineering department, Estate

department, Health department , Information and Technology department , Internal
Audit department, Law department, Public Relation department, Revenue
department, Slum Development department, Social Welfare department and Urban
Planning department .

Besides above, Zonal officer and Standing committee are also part of DSCC
organization chart.

Zonal Officers : There are 5 zonal offices of DSCC. Officer of zonal office Acts as
the Principal Executive Officer of the concerned zone. The zone officer is a self-
contained branch of DSCC, Handles all administrative functions and coordinates
zone activities Supervises activities of all departments ,Takes decisions on zonal
problems after consulting concerned department heads and obtaining consent of the
Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Liaises with departmental heads concerning zone
activities and through the CEO, remains responsible to the Mayor, Presides over
interdepartmental meeting of the zone, Approves salary and other allowances of
section chief, Spends development funds, maintain accounts, and regularly submits
returns on routine and development expenditures to the main office, Coordinates and
supervises all transport in the zoon, Formulates annual development plan for the
zone in consultation with concerned ward commissioners and section chiefs,
Convenes the Zone Tender Committee and approves work, Takes responsibility for
delivery of all public utility service.

Takes immediate action during emergencies and natural calamities, Supervises

ordinary or special relief measures/relief project, Develops markets and maintains
them. By exercising delegated power, ensures imposition and collection of taxes and
also proposes new sources of taxation.
As representative of the Mayor, acts as a member of the Zonal Tax Review Council,
Takes necessary steps for slum improvement, social welfare, health matters etc.
subject to instructions and approval of Head Office,Through the CEO, takes
effective steps for eviction and for mobile courts. It also Supervises fund utilization
and implementation of component of the development plan, ensures progress and
refers to higher authorities.

Standing Committee of DSCC:

There is a provision of the Ordinance on constitution of a Standing Committee and

also for additional Standing Committees for the purpose of various functions of the
Corporation. The various Standing Committees, as have been mentioned in the
Ordinance, are as follows :

Finance & Establishment

Education
Health, Family Planning and Sanitation Drainage
Town Planning and Improvement Audit and Accounts
Work and Buildings
Water and Electricity and
Social Welfare and Community Center.

The Ordinance also states that,the Corporation shall, by regulation, determent the
functions of Standing Committee. Therefore,the Standing Committees discharge
functions basically on an ad-hoc basis depending on the perception of the members
about the functions of the Standing Committee. DSCC Finance There are three broad
financial aspects of the city corporation.

Financial Income if DSCC:

The resources of city corporation can be divided into three groups. These are,
internally raised revenue, government grants and loans and advances. Own sources
of revenue include taxes, rates, fines, tolls and rents and profits from own property
while the government grants constitute a significant portion of income.
Own Revenue Income : The revenue department of the DSCC Imposes Tax on
Building, issues New Holding Number, Correction of Records in case of Transfer of
Property, issues Trade License for the Business Community of Dhaka, issues
License of Non Motorized Vehicles, allots Shops of DSCC Owned Markets,collects
Rent from DCC Owned Market, collects Amusement Tax Holding tax is one of the
main revenue earning sector of DSCC. The own revenue has always constituted the
major portion of income in the city corporation. The own revenue income of the city
corporation is mainly derived from taxes on holdings and rates on
water,conservancy and lights. Revenues are also drawn from the transfer of
immovable property, lease money on hat-bazars, applications for the creation and
creation of buildings, professional, trades and callings, amusements, vehicles,
animals, advertisement, birth, marriages and feasts. Other revenues include rent and
profits from own property and shops and interest from investment, fines etc. In
accordance with The City Corporations (Taxation) Rules, 1986, DSCC can impose
tax on following sectors :

Taxes on the annual value of buildings and lands.

Tax on the transfer of immovable property.
Tax on applications for the erection and re-erection of buildings.
Tax on the import of goods for consumption, use or sale in the city.
Tax on the export of goods from the city.
Taxes of the nature of tolls.
Tax on professions, trades and callings.
Tax on births, marriages, adoptions and feasts.
Tax on advertisements.
Tax on animals.
Tax on cinemas, dramatic and theatrical shows and other entertainments and
amusements.
Tax on vehicles, other than motor vehicles and boats.
Lighting rate and fire rate.
conservancy rate.
Rate for the execution of any works of public utility.
Rates for the provision of water works or the supply of water.
Cess on any of the taxes levied by Government.
School fees.
Fees for the use of benefits derived from any works of public utility maintained
by the Corporation.
 Fees at fairs, agricultural shows, industrial exhibitions, tournaments and other
public gatherings.
Fees for markets. DSCC Financial aspects Income Revenue from own resources
Government grants Loans and advances Expenditure Other Aspects Budget
Preparation Accounting Procedure Auditing System
Fees for licences, sanctions and permits granted by the Corporation.
Fees for specific services rendered by the Corporation.
Fees for the slaughtering of animals.
Any other fees permitted under any of the provisions of this Ordinance.
Any other tax which the Government is empowered to levy by law.

Forms of Government Grants : In every year, the government provides different

types of grant to the city Corporation which is commonly known as budgetary
allocation on the basis of Annual Development Programme (ADP) fund. The other
government grants include octroi compensation grant, grant for special scheme like
anti- mosquito eradication programme, staff salary compensation grant and
subvention for dearness allowance, special project grant or development assistance
grant and president's special grant. Funds available for government grants are
distributed to the city corporation in two separate installments, preferably in July and
January by the Local Government Division of the Ministry of Local Government,
Rural Development and Cooperatives under sector wise allocations. Loan and
advances: Sometimes DSCC takes advances from the beneficiaries of it’s properties
like land and market. It also often takes loan from companies, banks or government
to meet-up the budget , to implement development projects and to face emergency
crisis. Pattern of Expenditure The revenue expenditure constitutes salaries excluding
the government employees posted there on deputation, charged expenditure of the
government employees, general establishment and administration, investment in the
nursery, poultry, fishing firms, audit expenditure, maintenance and services of the
property of city corporation and acquisition and purchasing cost of land etc. Surplus
of the revenue fund after making the revenue expenditure in these sectors generally
transferred to the development fund of the respective authority. The city corporation
fund could be used for the repayment of loans, meeting their establishment charges,
cost of credit and any other establishment charges maintained by government on
account of their works. Those include roads, bridges, tanks, drains, water supply,
sanitation, conservancy,
lighting and cleaning of streets, collection or maintenance of corporation offices and
other establishment and maintenance of hospitals, dispensaries, parks, playground,
promotion of vaccination, veterinary hospital and dispensaries, libraries, fire-brigade
and generally to carry out the purposes in connection with the civic facilities and
development activities of the city dwellers.

Obstacles of DSCC:

The supreme challenge of implementing any initiaive with full swing is the lack of
coordination between government bodies along with corrupt officials have hindered
growth at all city corporations including the Dhaka ,North City Corporation (DNCC)
and Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC).Moreover, there are as many as 44
government bodies including ministries various department specialized bodies for
instance WASA, BRTC etc are linked with DCC. There is a serious lack of
coordination among them.This lessens the speed of any project or creates obstacles.
This has been an ever present problem for DSCC.

Another biggest challenge for DSCC is being overloaded with debt. This has
become the prime obstacle for DSCC.Being unable to pay the suppliers and the
contractors taking new projects has come out as the severe most headache for the
mayor. DSCC even hasgone to its limit to give the salay and others allowance to its
huge staff. DSCC has tried to increase the tax rate but it has faced strict resistance
from the citizens.

Political barrier is one of the ever present factors that slow down the activities of any
public organization. Like every other public organization, DSCC is also going
through this sort of problem. Sometimes local political tycoons create problems
unless they gain their share. This problem iscreated due to lack of executive power.

DSCC has to do dozens of works.But it possesses little executive power compare to

their activities. For example DMC is under the ministry of health and family
welfare. DSCC is responsible to waste management of it but DSCC can't take any
legal action against it if they pollute the environment by throwing medical waste
since ministry of forest and Environment has the legal power to do so. Thus lack of
legitimate power has hilled its challenges.
Recommendations to overcome those obstacles :

Considering the reality,the DSCC unavoidably faces several obstacles whiletaking

any new initiatives. The institutions which are service oriented tendsto have more
scopes for occurring corruption thus the whole system gets plagued with
malpractices. Economic and political limitations remains persistent barriers for
effective implementations of proposed plans.

Besides local government institutions such as this city corporation is highly

dependent on the central government. There remain very thin scopes for
strengthening these local government institutions as their revenue generation is not
sufficient to cut off dependency over the central government. Hence DSCC needs to
be financially independent to become a full-fledged effective organization in order
to provide efficient services to its citizens. As DSCC executes different typesof
activities and initiatives itneeds a huge amount of cash flow. Several development
initiatives go in vain because of the lacking of proper finance.

In reality there are lots of flaws and limitations remain in the execution process of
DSCC. It has to deal with thosebarriers. It is getting changed by facing those
troubles and restrictions. Proper support from all parts would help it to get changed
to offer better service.

The Deputy Secretary and Perosnal Secretary of the Mayor of DSCC Mohammad
Marufur Rashid Khan said that “Already we have taken 30 years sustainable
development plan for the DSCC ”

He also said that, Firstly the presser of population in Dhaka city must be decrees
Secondly, we must be follow the decentralization government organ then we
decrees the population of Dhaka , when we decrees our population in Dhaka city
then we will be overcome our all obstacles.
Thirdly, we can recommend that the all work of DSCC are take properly done and
ensure the transparency , accountability and rule of law.
Finally we can say that we must follow the traffic rules and follow the Rules and
laws of the this City Corporation whom they are live in Dhaka city, We must always
try to be clean our Dhaka city.
Conclusion:

Dhaka City Corporation is a self governing corporation that is associated with the
task of running affairs of the city.It is important to notice that though Dhaka has
been denoted as tha second most dirty city in the world but her resident identified
the municipal services offered to them as fair.Their perception is influenced by the
overall socio economic context in the country.It is the prime responsibility of
municipalities to ensure a healthy,clean and safe city.If comapared at global scale
the failure of Dhaka City Corporation is unquestionable but at local level with the
active participation of people,the city is still serving and struggling for better life.