GROUP REPORT: PAD201

Section 03

Submitted to: Mr. Saifuddin Ahmed

Submitted by:

Samin Soria Samad (2013668620)

Hrittik Mondal (1530523630)

Naimul Hasan Jisan (1931593630)

Tasnim Shahriar Anisha (2011443630)
Utsho Shaha (1912715630)

Submission Date: 21st April 2022 (Thursday)

INTRODUCTION OF THE WARD
By Naimul Hassan Jisan ((1931593630)

1.  Ward No: 41

2.  Name of the City Corporation: DSCC

3.  Size of the Area: 5-6 Kilometers

4.      Included Areas & Streets: Lalmohan Shah Street,

Bhajahari Saha Street, South Masundi, Wari Street, Joykali
Mandir Road, Nawab Street, Madan Mohan Basak Road, Tipu Sultan Road, Padma Nidhi Lane,
Hari Street Lane, Auxen Lane, Narinda Road, Jorpul Lane Folder Street, Chandi Charan Bose
Street, Hatkhola Road and Baldha House, Larmini Street, & Randha-Shyam Saha Street.

5.  Important Establishments within the Ward: Baldha Garden, Christian Cemetery, Joykali
Mondir, Sri Gouri Math, Pori Bibir Masjid

6.  Location of the Office of the Ward Councilor: Fakir Chan Sardar Community Centre,
Narinda Road, Dhaka

7.  Rented/Own Office: None; Office assigned by City Corporation

BACKGROUND OF THE COUNCILOR

By Utsho Shaha (1912715630)

Name:  The councilor name is Haji Sarowar Hassan Alo

Age: From recent data collection we found that now his age is 48.
He was born in 1974 after the year liberation war of Bangladesh. 
Educational Background: He completed his High School
graduation from the renowned St. Gregorian School of Puran
Dhaka, after that he was admitted in Jagannath College for his
Higher Secondary Certificate and completed his higher-level degree
from there as well. From his student life, he was attached with
politics and various social works.
Profession: Mr. Sarowar Hassan Alo is basically a businessman but he spent most of his time
polishing his political career. He is known for doing numerous exemplary work for the welfare
of his word and was doing lots of good work for his political party. Now he was maintain the
current Councilor of ward no 41 (DSCC).  
Party Affiliation: 
From his childhood, he was following the rule of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. For
this reason, he joined Awami League from his college life. But he only made a permanent
position in party a few years ago. Now a days, he has experience as a Councilor from 2015 – till
present. 

7 years of experience:
Haji Sarowar Hassan Alo spent a lot of time for his political party. He gathered lots of
experiences from the situation of his party. On the other hand, during his time he did lots of good
work for the poor people. He maintained many charity such as “Patho chari der jonno bina mulle
ifter”, “provides paper & pencil to the students”, “Provide foods to the poor people in covid 19
situation”etc.   
ABOUT THE OFFICE STAFF
By Hrittik Mondal (1530523630)

The 5 Main roles of Ward Councilor and his office are:

1.  To regulate the cleanliness and aesthetics of the streets and roads within the ward

2.  To ensure that the streetlamps are well lighten and repaired when futile

3.  To control the propagation of mosquitoes & eliminate them

4.  To repair roads and streets wherever it’s necessary and to alleviate the suffering of the   
people.

5.  To provide all kinds of “Nagorik Sheba” to each and every individual under the particular
ward

The Committees and staff allocation are decided by the City Corporation as per the functioning
and fulfillment of these roles.

Number of Office Staff: 14 (Mosquito elimination Committee) + 75 (Conservancy Committee)

+ Additional Office Staff (For helping local people, managing the regular activities of the word
office)

Positions around the Office: There are 3 main positions directly under the Councilor’s
employment (Secretary, Officer, Office Superintendent)

Duties of the Staff: Some of the assigned committees by the ward councilor are Mosquito
elimination, Conservancy, Street and Infrastructure maintenance, Municipality Regulation, Street
light maintenance and repairment, staff allocated for providing Nagorik Sheba (of every kind:
from birth to death certificate)

  
OPERATIONS OF THE WARD OFFICE
By Samin Soria Saman (2013668620)

The Common and Regular Functions

Performed by The Councilor and His Office:

The Ward Councilors are elected members. They are

responsible for the welfare of the people of their wards.
They listen to their problems and get them solved.
Sometimes, they must make complicated decisions that
affect the entire city. At such moments, groups of
councilors who form committees gather to decide and
debate issues. While the Councilor’s Committees and the
councilors decide on issues, the Commissioner and the administrative staff implement these
decisions.

All the Ward Councilors under a particular City Corporation meet and make a budget and the
money is spent according to this. The Ward Councilors tries and ensure that the demands of their
wards are placed before the entire council. These decisions are then implemented by the
administrative staff.

Municipal Corporations are further divided into wards and a Ward Councilor is elected for
different areas to perform certain activities for the welfare of their ward. The decisions where a
park or hospital should be built are usually made by the Ward Councilors. They are the
chairperson of their ward’s committees and deals with the development of their ward.

When a problem prevails within a ward, the people of that ward reach out to the Ward Councilor
to resolve such issues. During such moments, a committee is formed by the group of councilors
who meet up together to decide and debate about the issue. The duty of the Commission and the
Administrative Staff is to implement the decisions made by the Councilor’s Committee. The
Ward Councilors are elected while the Administrative Staff and the Commissioner is appointed
by the City Corporation. 

The Problems They Face in Performing These Functions:

 We have mentioned a few of the major duties of our selected Ward earlier. In order to
fulfill these duties, the Councilor and his office face various obstacles. Some of these
challenges are: 
  Councilor of the ward is often seen to help collecting the holding tax for the
administrative government. But the locals often dismiss this authority as invalid or
informal. 
 People complain & question the municipality and ward office’s responsibility of
mosquito elimination. They think the method is inadequate & inefficient.

 The respective ward councilor mentioned that they expect the cooperation of local people
on a much broader basis. Only a few selective locals choose to come forward with their
problems and concerns and take a part in the discussion of solving the problem, others
have this mentality that every government office is corrupt, and no help can be found
from there but according to Mr. Sarowar it is a wrong perspective. He says “Only a
person unaware of their rights can think this way”

 The municipality member assigned by city corporation and overlooked by each ward are
criticized for not doing their jobs well. But what goes unnoticed here is that if each
member of the ward took responsibility of their own garbage, then these questions were
never evoked.

 Few members of the mosquito elimination committee mentioned that people don’t take
penalties set for creating a hub of propagation of mosquitoes in their homes seriously.  

How do they solve the problems? 

 Consulting Services: Consulting services are defined as the offering of expertise or strategic
counsel for consideration and decision-making. A ward of consist of several staff and dignified
members, who are chosen by city corporation who are well aware of the ward and the localities
of it. Any action taken towards the welfare of the local people of the ward are considered and
discussed by the consulting committee. This committee consists of skilled and experienced
elderlies and influential localities of the ward areas. These people are aware of their concerns and
problems and are willing to cooperate the ward to obtain their services. 

Conducting Bichar Shalish (Arbitration): In our visit to the ward office, we witnessed a
general meeting following an arbitration inside the office in presence of the ward councilor
himself. This mode of problem-solving service shows people’s trust in the local government.
Cases which can be dealt without any hassle and the legal system getting involved is one of the
plus points of this sort of arbitration.

Networking: The DSCC is the official in charge of all the wards which fall under their allocated
areas. These wards assigned by CC all have a common network within them. Starting from
budget allocation, resource allotment, fund raising, food & cloth distribution among those who
are in need of it - everything is conducted within remaining under this network of ward
counselors

OBSERVATION
By Tasnim Shahriar Anisha (2011443630)

How do they cooperate etc -

A parent of one of our team members who was acquainted with the councilor went with us. At
first when we went to the ward office, they told us to wait outside for a while. Then the parent of
our member went inside the office and informed the counselor about our visit. Then they let us
into the office. They told us to take a seat but as there were not many chairs around the staff
members arranged seats for us to sit which
showed their willingness to cooperate. 

We waited there for 10 to 15 minutes and

observed what was going around the office. A
general discussion was going on which
included some influential businessmen of the
area. And they were discussing the food
distribution program for Ramadan, how and when they're going to do it, which area of the ward
should be more prioritized etc. While this discussion was going on an issue was brought up
which was that in the previous distribution program some people didn't get the food, so how to
avoid this situation this time was also being discussed. We also observed that there were two
female counselors in the general meeting. People were coming and going into the room where
the discussion was being held. After some time, we saw that an elderly woman came into the
office with her son. She wanted to digitize her national ID card, so a form was given to her to fill
up. And the whole time that they were in the office everyone seemed very cooperative in solving
her issues. So, the overall observation was that if someone comes here with an issue or seeking
help they get their work done and are helped with
their issues. 

Another thing that we had observed right before

leaving the office was that the office superintendent
came to the office secretary and asked him how many
people had arrived from the mosquito eliminating
committee. And listed that two people had not
arrived and wrote down their names. The office
secretary then asked the superintendent whether he should go out or not to find out why those
two didn't come. The superintendent told him not to bother and just to tell the 12 other members
who had arrived to start their work in the area. So, as we were leaving, we saw that those 12
members were also getting out of the office to start their mosquito elimination work. 

Overall, the local ward office had a very friendly and hospitable environment. Upon reaching the
office we witnessed a council meeting going on. After observing the meeting for some time, the
councilor made some time to answer some of the questions we had. He assigned the secretary of
the ward to answer the critical questions and the inner workings of the ward. Other staff of the
office also showed enthusiasm to have us with them and appreciated the practical aspect of this
assigned project. They were very cooperative with all our inquiries. And one other thing that
stood out to group mates was that even if they were working on something they still ensured that
everyone got their inquiries fulfilled and their work done when they came into the office. 

What is the notable observation during stay in the councilor's office?

The counselor and his office were very cooperative towards the locals. Although this group of
people didn’t observe any rush or hectic around the office as we visited a few hours before the
iftar time but within the limited few locals coming for inquiries and varied cooperation the ward
office seemed to manage everything well. On top of it, the general decision-making process of
the councilor seemed to be quite dependent on the elderly & influential people of the associated
areas of the ward. Another Thing that we observed is that many people come into the ward office
for small issues such as getting their ration card, solving issues with the voter ID or national ID.
And everyone's issues were being solved quite quickly as there were enough people stationed at
the ward to help the local people.