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Introduction

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 is known as the City of Mosques and with 400,000 cycle rickshaws running on its streets every day, the city is also described as the Rickshaw Capital of the World.

1st August, 1864 , Dhaka was declared as municipality for the first time. 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/administrator is assisted by the Chief Executive Officer, who in turn, is assisted by the Secretary, the Heads of Departments and Zonal Executive Officers.

About Dhaka South City Corporation

Brief History : 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

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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 statuted 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) on 04.12.2011 as well as the Government has appointed Mr. Md. Khalilur Rahman (additional Secretary) as the Administrator of DSCC. According to the plan, Uttara, Gulshan, Badda, Mohakhali, East Rampura, Tejgaon, Mohammadpur, Mirpur, Pallabi and Kafrul will fall under the North City Corporation, while Dhanmondi, Ramna, Motijheel, Sabujbagh, Demra, Khilgaon, Sutrapur, Kotwali and Lalbagh will be in the South City Corporation.

Dhaka South City Corporation at a glance:Total area About 160 kmward 56Departments 16Zonal office 5 Population over 8 million

Growth of Population 6% per yearLiteracy Rate 63.2%University 16 (3 public and rest 14 private)Parks 42Foot over bridge 40 ( among which 6 are under construction )Flyover 3Underpasses 3Play ground 11Public toilet 28Public hospital and Maternity Center (Under direct maintenance of DSCC)

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Markets 84Body Building Club / Health Care Centre 19Cultural academy 10Public library 19

Museum (maintained by DSCC) 1

community centers 36

Bus terminal 2

Port (river) 1

GPO 1

Graveyard / Burial Ground 5 (Including 2 Christian cemetery)

Soshan ghats 2

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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.

Figure 1 Structure of DSCC

Functions of Dhaka South City Corporation

DSCC performs multi-dimensional function for the dwellers living within the corporation area. Functions performed by DSCC include-

  Animals related Functions : Maintenance and control Animals husbandry , Stray animals , Animal hones and farms, Registration of sale of cattle, Livestock improvement, Dangerous animals, Cattle show, zoos, Disposal of carcasses etc. are animal related functions of DSCC.

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 centres 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

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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.

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

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.

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.

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 honourable 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.

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.

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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 . These are income , expenditure and other aspects which described below:

Figure 2 DSCC organizational chart

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Figure 3 Dhaka South City Corporation Finance

IncomeThe 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 :

1. Taxes on the annual value of buildings and lands.2. Tax on the transfer of immovable property.3. Tax on applications for the erection and re-erection of buildings.4. Tax on the import of goods for consumption, use or sale in the city.5. Tax on the export of goods from the city.6. Taxes of the nature of tolls.7. Tax on professions, trades and callings.8. Tax on births, marriages, adoptions and feasts.9. Tax on advertisements.10. Tax on animals.11. Tax on cinemas, dramatic and theatrical shows and other entertainments and amusements.12. Tax on vehicles, other than motor vehicles and boats.13. Lighting rate and fire rate.14. conservancy rate.15. Rate for the execution of any works of public utility.16. Rates for the provision of water works or the supply of water.17. Cess on any of the taxes levied by Government.18. School fees.19. Fees for the use of benefits derived from any works of public utility maintained by the Corporation.20. Fees at fairs, agricultural shows, industrial exhibitions, tournaments and other public gatherings.21. Fees for markets.

DSCC Financial aspects

Income

Revenue from own resources

Government grants

Loans and advances

ExpenditureOther

Aspects

Budget Preparation

Accounting Procedure

Auditing System

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22. Fees for licences, sanctions and permits granted by the Corporation.23. Fees for specific services rendered by the Corporation.24. Fees for the slaughtering of animals.25. Any other fees permitted under any of the provisions of this Ordinance.26. 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 ExpenditureThe 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.The money from time to time credited to city corporation fund required to be expended in the following order of preference:

i. in the payment of salaries and allowances to employees of urban local body;ii. in the payment of loans;iii. in meeting the expenditure charged under urban local fund under law;iv. in the fulfillment of any obligation and in the discharge of any duty imposed on the local body under law;v. in meeting in expenditure declared by the local body with the previous sanction of the controlling authority to

be an appropriate charge on the local fund; andvi. in meeting the expenditure declared by the government to be appropriate charge on the urban local fund.

Other Financial AspectsBudget Preparation :All the major sources of income and heads of expenditure are defined in the Municipal Committee (Budget) Rules, 1960. According to the Section 61(i) of the DCC Ordinance, 1983, corporation must prepare the budget at the beginning of each fiscal year (June period). It should contain a statement of estimated receipts and expenditure. Under the rule, the city corporation has power to prepare budget estimates on the basis of revenue income and capital and to submit it to the prescribed authority one month before the beginning of each fiscal year i.e., Ministry of LGRDC by the 1st of June. If the budget is not prepared by the concerned bodies before 1st June, Ministry of LGRDC has power to prepare a budget statement which the city corporation will be obliged to accept as their sanctioned budget. The corporation also authorized to revise the budget any time and the procedure for the revision of the budget is the same as for the making of the original budget.

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Accounting Procedure : Under the section 82(1) of the DCC Ordinance, the corporation must prepare and keep the accounts of receipt and expenditure. Sub-section (2) and (3) of the ordinances indicate that the annual statement of accounts must prepare after the close of every fiscal year and forward a copy to the prescribed authority i.e., Local Government Division of the Ministry of LGRDC by 31st December of the following year. Accounts in the city corporation are maintained as per Municipal Accounts Rules, 1932. According to rules, the whole accounts of a city corporation may be sub-divided into three categories. These are,

i. Taxation accounts which is relating to assessment and collection of different taxes and rates.ii. Accounts relating to income and expenditure.iii. Miscellaneous accounts relating to stores, property etc.

Auditing System : Under section 63(1) of the DCC Act, all accounts of the city corporation are audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General of Bangladesh every year. The concerned corporation unit can take necessary measures of remedy against the person concerned in any expenditure of the unit is found not in conformity with law as per recommendation of the Comptroller and Auditor General. DSCC must prepare the audited annual statement within three months of its receipt and make it available for public knowledge.

Personnel ManagementThe personnel management system which includes recruitment, appointment, promotion, salary, disciplinary measures and other service matters in respect of the corporation are regulated by the corporation. Dhaka South City Corporation is guided by the Dhaka City Corporation Employees Services Rules, 1989 and the DCC Ordinance, 1983 . The legal basis and the terms and conditions of the services of officials and employees in city corporations have been prescribed under the Section 54 of the DCC Ordinance of 1983.

Under present system, there are four classes of employees which are class I, class II, class III and class IV, The class I represents senior administrative and professional posts, class II, includes junior administrative and professional posts, class III indicates skilled and clerical employees and those with supervisory responsibilities for non-skilled workers, and all other lower level posts represents in class IV.

Recruitment and Selection- No person is eligible for recruitment-(1) unless he is 18 years of age or less than 30 years of age. The Selection Board, however, in exceptional cases can relax upper age limit and also specify the maximum age limit for a particular position, (2) unless he is a citizen of Bangladesh, (3) unless he produces a medical certificate of physical fitness as specified by the service board and (2) unless he produces a police verification of antecedents.

The Chief Executive Officer prepares a list of the posts for appointment which he thinks necessarily should exist in the city corporation and submit the same to the city corporation meeting for approval. a Selection Committee-I is constituted by the city corporation after being approved by the Local Government Division of the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives. This committee is responsible for recruiting directly and awarding promotion to the level of class-I grade officials from Class-II, The Selection Committee is formed with the : (i) Mayor of the city corporation as Chairman, (ii) The Deputy Secretary of the Local Government Division (responsible for city corporation and pourashava affairs) as a member, (iii) Chief Executive Officer of the corporation as a member (iv) Secretary of the city corporation acts as Member Secretary of the committee. The Selection Committee-II, on the other hand, is made up of " (i) Chief Executive Officer of the City Corporation as Chairman, (ii) Deputy Secretary (concerned) of the ministry as a member and (iii) Secretary of the city corporation as Member-Secretary. The responsibility of the Selection 'Committee-II is mainly for recruitment and promotion of the class-II and class-III officials. After the selection, the recommendation of the selection committee is referred to the ministry for final approval. For the recruitment in the posts of class-IV, the responsibility lies with the city corporation which act on the basis of approval obtained from the Ministry. Only in the case of non-sanctioned posts, the approval of the ministry is required. The minimum qualifications of these posts by direct recruitment are described below :Administrative Officer : GraduateLaw Officer : Law GraduateAssistant Engineer : B.Sc. (Engineering)

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Revenue Officer : Commerce GraduateAccounts Officer : Commerce GraduateConservancy Officer : GraduateMedical Officer : MBBSHealth Officer : MBBS (Preferably with Diploma in Public Health)In the clerical and class-III services there is a mixed system of direct recruitment and promotion. The overwhelming majority of officers and employees are selected through promotion or direct recruitment, particularly in the posts of Assessor and Revenue and Tax Inspector. The minimum qualification for such consideration is that a candidate must be a graduate. In case of sanitary inspector, minimum qualification of a candidate is also graduation with Diploma in this field. In case of overseer and mechanic, the Diploma in engineering is needed. In most other cases, the minimum qualification of candidates is Secondary School Certificate. For promotion purposes, the required minimum experience varies from three to seven years.

Transfer- Generally officials of the city corporations are not transferable. But under section 54(F) of the DCC Ordinance, 1983 and the DCC Employees Services Rules, 1989, the government has power to transfer the personnel of city corporation to the other local authorities whereas their pay and status remain unchanged. The Minister or the Secretary is to concur on any transfer of class-I and class-II officers on deputation.

Promotion- Combination of seniority and merit play an important part in the promotion to the higher posts in city corporation. Promotion is given on the basis of seniority of service, service record of the personnel and Annual Confidential Report (ACR). Some of the posts are filled up on the basis of promotion alone, but others by direct recruitment or by officials on deputation from government service. Fifty per cent of such promotions must be made from among existing incumbents and the other 50 per cent by direct recruitment or deputation from government. When selecting a candidate for promotion, his academic and techinical qualifications, experiences, intellectual ability, performance, character and records of previous services are to be taken into account. After a decision is taken about the number of posts to be filled up by promotion, the city corporation prepares a panel of eligible persons along with confidential report and personal files. The panel will be scrutinized and evaluated by the promotion committee before the name of a person eligible for promotion is forwarded to the Secretary of the Local Government Division of the Ministry of LGRDC, who in turn will approve or disapprove the recommendation of the promotion committee. But before sending the eligible promotion cases to the secretary for final approval, the promotion committee ought to interview the candidates.

Conditions of Service and Pay Grades- Conditions of service and gradation of pay scales are prescribed by the Local Council Services Rules, 1968 and the Dhaka City Corporation Employees' Services Rules, 1989. Originally, there were 59 different pay scales for the four classes of employees which later converted to ten but the new national pay scales fixed up twenty pay grades.The attraction of any service depends on salary and other compensations as well as its prestige. Personnel in city corporation are appointed with their pay, allowances and other compensations drawn from the corporation fund and not from the government fund, development budget of the government or any common fund separately constituted for the purpose.

Other Benefits and Allowances - The following allowances are given to the personnel of city corporation :i. Dearness allowance : This allowance, primarily meant for helping persons with fixed income against rising

prices has been made permissible at the municipal level at the same rate as is permissible to government employees from time to time.

ii. House rent allowances : This allowance is permissible at the same rate as applicable in the case of the government employees from time to time.

iii. Medical allowance : It is applicable to urban local personnel as per rules.iv. Conveyance allowance : It is admissible to every corporation officers and employees on the condition of

maintaining motor car or jeep, motor cycle or scooter or auto cycle and bicycle as per rules laid down by government notification, and the rate varies according to the grade enjoyed by the officer or employees.

v. Recreation Allowance : It is applicable to the urban local personnel as per the rules.

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Training- The National Institute of Local Government (NILG) is the only institution for training of all categories of local government personnel and elected functionaries of city corporation in Bangladesh. In Bangladesh, practically very limited scope of training facilities for the personnel of city corporation exists. The NILG is the only institution of its kind. It was first established as Local Government Institute in 1969 under the Education and Training Ordinance of 1961. Later, it was renamed as National Institute of Local Government and in 1991 it was recognized as an autonomous body under the legal basis of the NILG Ordinance of 1991. This autonomous institute arrange short courses from time to time for a week or two. The short training course covers legal, administrative, financial, as well as functional aspects of local government in Bangladesh.The NILG organizes training programmes for city corporation officials and commissioners. During the training period, an employee is granted extra-ordinary study leave with Travelling Allowance (TA) and Dearness Allowance (DA) by the concerned city corporation.

Performance Appraisal-Performance appraisal basically evaluates two things. These are competence and attitude of the personnel which are again interlinked. The purpose of performance appraisal is to provide a sound information base to the management for adopting corrective, preventive and development measures with a view to upgrading performance level of the individual employee as well as of the organization. The Chief Executive Officer of the city corporation initiate the Annual Performance Appraisal Report which is simply called Annual Confidential Report (ACR) about the personnel of the corporation which has to be countersigned by the Mayor of the City Corporation for class-I officials. But the ACR of the class-II officials and class-III employees are written by the different departmental heads of the city corporation and countersigned by the CEO. But the ACR of the CEO posted on deputation in City Corporation is written by the Mayor of the City Corporation and countersigned by the Secretary of the Ministry of LGRDC.

Conduct and Discipline- Uniform rules of discipline applied to all categories of personnel in city corporation are guided by the Bangladesh Local Councils Servants (Efficiency and Discipline) Rules, 1968 and the DCC Employees Services Rules, 1989. These rules contain grounds for penalization as well as minor and Major punishments. All disciplinary actions are subject to appeals to the next higher administrative level and are taken with the approval of the ministry. In the case of officers from the government service, all disciplinary control lies with the government. The grounds for penalization are inefficiency, misconduct and subversion. Minor punishment included with holding of increment and major punishments included degradation to a lower posts, deduct salary, cut own 7 days basic salary, compulsory retirement, removal and dismissal from service. But the suspension, removal and dismissal power are lying with the appointing authority after given an opportunity of showing cause. The Mayor of the city corporation may be awarded minor punishments like withholding of increment but the rules required that major punishment like degradation, demotion, suspension and dismissal can be awarded by the ministry only.

Leave and Retirement Rules- The leave matters of city corporation are guided by the Bangladesh Local Councils Servants (Leave) rules, 1968 and other provisions described in the DCC ordinance 1982. Under these rules, the employees can enjoy casual, earned and extraordinary leave, leave preparatory to retirement and other kinds of leave.

In matters of retirement, the members of the service are governed by the Municipal Committee Servants (Retirement) Rules, 1968. The other conditions are more or less the same as those of government employees.

Control and Accountability Mechanism

The government exercises supervision and control over city corporation through the Local Government (LG) Division of the Ministry of LGRDC which is designated as the prescribed authority. The Local Government Division of the Ministry of LGRDC performs such functions and enjoys the powers and functions which can be discussed as follows :

i. Legislative Measures : The Ministry prepares drafts of bills and comments on bills affecting urban local government. These relate to such executive directives, administrative orders and proclamations as are necessary to carry out urban local functions and issuance of circular, notifications and memorandum intended for urban Local government administration. The Minister places the urban local bills in parliament for its approval. He also answers in parliament all the questions relating to urban local government.

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ii. Administrative Measures : The ministry has controlling power over general administration and specific power over certain functions. It also exercises general inspection and supervisory authority, which includes powers to inspect corporation’s properties and works and to call for records of urban local government proceedings. It is empowered to suspend urban local resolutions, orders etc. in certain instances. The ministry is also exercised limited control over certain specific functions, for example, the power to accord sanction for leasing out and removal of refuse. It has also the power to ask the corporation to take action on the basis of inspection reports and to reply accordingly.

iii. Financial Measures : The ministry controls the finance and expenses of the corporation. It approves applications of city corporation for loans to public improvements, examinees budgets, reviews local ordinances and regulations involving the appropriation of funds. The minister can ask the city corporation to levy certain taxes to improve their financial capability and likewise he can ask to realize certain taxes for the government. The government gives grants for various purposes to the corporation in order to provide more civic facilities and amenities to the people.

iv. Personnel Measures : Appointments of certain categories of corporation’s employees, promotions, integration of them in the corporation services, transfer of officials and employees in city corporation. The ministry has the power to hear the cases of suspension or removal or restoration and to hold any enquiry against any official and non-official of city corporation. It has power to call personal file or any official or employee on which he can take action. It has power to recommend for the creation of posts, their extension and re-employment. The ministry also makes arrangements for training of corporation personnel which is provided by the NILG.

v. Development Activities : The main functions of the ministry is to lay down a uniform policy for the planned development of city corporation areas, services for cleanliness, education, health and sanitation. Thus, it deals with all matters of general policy, matters pertaining to boundary disputes between city corporation, and fixing their categories and appropriation and other forms of acquisition of land for public interest and its improvement.

Problems

Problems that DSCC is facing in functioning it’s day to day activities involve-

Organisational and Structural Problems :Though Mayor and commissioners of the of the Corporation are directly elected by the people for a term of five years but the ministry has power to dismiss or suspend any commissioner, or even Mayor with just the stroke of a pen. Reasons cited for such dismissal are trite. There are unspecified charges of abuse of power or criminal offenses. The government can also supersede a city corporation on the grounds of inefficiency and abuse of power. And all this it can do in the name of public interest. The government tends to use this lever against the Mayor or the commissioners who belongs to opposition political parties.

Administrative Problems : With the incensement of population in Dhaka city ,the level of the services and quality of management of the corporation is not expanded. As a consequence, they face a number of administrative obstacles to the delivery of civic services. Limited financial resources and acute shortage of trained personnel make the problems worse.

Problems of Inter-Departmental Coordination and Overlapping of Functions : City Corporation has responsibility to formulate and implement development plans and programmes with the prior approval of the government in their respective jurisdiction. Such responsibilities are also entrusted to the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartipakkya (RAJUK) in Dhaka, but there are no evidences to suggest that the city corporation ever took any development plans in connection with the national plan and in coordination with other development agencies. Although DSCC is responsible for ensuring civic facilities to the people living in Dhaka city, it still do not have any direct linkages with other development agencies of the government responsible for the implementation of development programmes. There is lack of coordination at the level of (a) decision making, (b) planning, (c) implementation and (d) maintenance of services. The activities of agencies are related to specific areas of the problem. There is also lack of coordination at the level of planning since most planning has been undertaken by the sectoral development agencies, and planning become fragmented and sporadic. As the planning and decision making are pluralistic and non-comprehensive, there is also lack of coordination in the implementation of the plans.

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Problem of Personnel Management System : There is practically no system whereby persons who are competent, dedicated and readily responsive to the needs of corporation administration can be recruited and trained. Failure to pick up right man for the right job has by and large turned into the failure of DSCC to build up a positive image of itself.

Generalist-specialist conflict : Generalist-specialist relation is a problem here. As opposed to a generalist administrator, specialists like Engineers and Medical Officers enjoy better scales of pay. They have not been clearly put under the administrative control of Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The specialists invariably resent any attempt of the generalist administrator to check the payments sanctioned by them or estimates of expenditure prepared by them. Because of their technical expertise, Engineers and Medical Officers claim that their specialisation cannot be comprehended by generalist officers. Hence, they never want to accept any suggestion which might be offered by the generalist officer.

Conflict between elected bodies and appointed officials : Conflicts within the corporation between the administrative personnel and elected leadership is another big problem. First, conflict invariably surfaces when the elected leadership wants to win over urban officers for the purpose of sanctioning building plans, assessing valuation of house property, collecting arrear taxes, or extending facilities in matters of road-repair, drainage, street lighting or domestic water-supply beyond rules. There may have a chance of collision between elected body of the city corporation and corporation officials on these issues. Another issue of conflict found is the appointment of lower grade and class-IV employees in all the organisations. Such recruitment are done locally and there are some natural tendencies on the part of elected local leadership to induct as many of their own people in urban local service as possible.

Lack of training : Lack of proper training of the personnel is one of the key problems confronting the city corporation. The main problem of NILG which provides training to local government officials is the dearth of motivated trainers who would like to build up career in training.

Collection of Taxes and Rates : The elected representatives generally do not exert adequate pressures on the residents regarding collection of taxes because they fear loss of popularity. Due to lack of regular tax assessment, insufficient assessment staff, inexperienced assessors, haphazard holding number, untimely implementation and settlement of appeals against assessment delayed the realisation of taxes. Besides, taxes on the government departments and autonomous organisations are not timely paid due to lack of budget allocation by the government.

No Reassessment of General Valuation of Property/Holding Tax: This most important item of DCC income has not been revised regularly, even though the law requires the tax to be reassessed at five-year intervals to keep it at par with the prevailing market rate. Even when it is revised, in many cases, assessments are not done at the prevailing market rates. The last assessment has been carried out in 1989.

Lack of Transparency of Assessment: The assessment system is not transparent to a very large section of the taxpayers. Many taxpayers resent this and are reluctant to pay. They adopt various means of evading it in collusion with some of the officials concerned. Low assessment leads to low collection.

Constant Budget Revision: Despite revising its budget each year, DCC has failed to achieve even the revised target. In practice, DCC usually prepares its original budget on the basis of a 10 percent increase over the previous year. They do not take actual income and expenditure patterns into account while projecting the budget. They do not even consider using average method for projecting future income and expenditure, though this is a widely used statistical tool.

Collection of Rates : Besides from taxes, income from rates for specific service constitutes an important part of the corporation revenue income. Owing to the absence of proper costing procedures for DSCC, the prices charged for such services as water supply, conservancy, sanitation, lighting etc. rendered by DSCC have little relation to the cost of these services. The government generally mentioned the range of holding tax schedules of city corporation but never

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considered its effectiveness. Therefore, tax imposition and its realisation are not properly managed which tend to weaken the financial base of these bodies.

Distribution of Government Grants : At present, although the grants constitute a significant portion of the source of income of the corporation but still these grants are inadequate for the large range of development activities it performs. Moreover, the city corporation does not know the exact amount of development grants before its disbursement from the central government. So the budget of the local bodies is generally revised on the basis of the actual receipt of government grants. Grant is neither supplementary to the own income of the corporation nor is it disbursed timely. Problems with the existing grant system are : non adherence to the criteria for allocation of various types of grants, delay in receipt of grant money in off-seasons. The political power groups often take advantage of this heavy dependence on government and the Ministry often influence local bodies to undertake a particular scheme sometimes using threats to reduce the grants.

Voluntary Contribution and Loan : Donation under voluntary contribution is one of the sources of income but no such contribution is found in the selected city corporation. Though corporation is allowed to receive loans from other organisations or individuals, in practice such loans are rarely taken. One reason for this is that it does not have sufficient credibility as a borrower. The existing rules for taking loans by the local bodies are very much complex and time consuming.Budgeting, Accounting and Auditing : The budget of the city corporation is submitted after the commencement of the financial year. Under the existing statutes, a copy of the annual statement of accounts is placed at a conspicuous place in the office of the City Corporation for public inspection. All objections or suggestions concerning such accounts are received from the public. But public inspection on annual statement of accounts is merely a provision which is very rarely followed. System of accounting, record maintaining, etc., are not practised properly. According to the provision of the statutes, the audit of the accounts of the corporation is done by the office of the government's audit department in December every year. But in practice, audit is not done regularly and timely.

Political Intervention: Through the official interview, it was found that the local representative does not encourage tax collection on animal, marriages, school fees, hospital, clinic centre, fairs etc. for holding his good reputation, which is needed to win the next election. They feel that popularity of local representatives will be greater than before among the dwellers, if the tax rate is not increased. So it is clear that self esteem of local representatives get priority.

Other Financial Matters : The government controls DSCC spending through loan sanction and associated devices on capital expenditure, and through cost control. According to the DCC Ordinance of 1983 a previous permission must be obtained from the government to sell, mortgage or lease any property or land of the city corporation. But in practice, the property of the corporation are often transferred or sold only after a resolution of the city corporation meeting without taking any previous sanction of the government. Besides, the city corporation generally seek approval of the government after selling or transferring the property or land of the corporation by violating section 65(2)C of the DCC ordinance.

Water Supply System : Water supply in Dhaka south city corporation area is the responsibilities of Dhaka WASA. The Chairman of Dhaka WASA IS A member of DCC. Therefore, within the corporation area, any problem regarding water supply can be directly solved by WASA, but WASA supplying insufficient water to meet-up city dwellers demand the balm of which often goes to the shoulder of the corporation.

Sanitation System and Sewerage Disposal : The responsibility of sewerage disposal is mainly lying with the WASA and the DPHE in Dhaka South City Corporation. Dhaka's water-borne sewerage system dates back to 1922 and for about 40 years investments were limited to small extensions within the city corporation. The level of sewerage service is much below that of water supply services in terms of population served, proportions of the capacity of sewerage collection, conveyance and treatment facilities. The principal aim of the water supply and sanitation sector is to improve the health condition of the people.

Refuse collection and disposal is one of the traditional urban local services in Bangladesh. The main problems are to finance, to plan, and to carry it out efficiently. The regular schedule for refuse collection is once a day in the Dhaka

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city corporation. Because of the shortage of refuse trucks, and required fund allocation, this objective is not often achieved. The result is that the refuse overflows the streets and produces offensive situation in Dhaka city corporation

Public Health Activities : This importance of public health calls for an intensification in the inspection of food, markets and shops to prevent the spreading of infectious diseases which requires more manpower. The presence of a large number of squatters and slums, aggravates these presence of a large number of squatters and slums, aggravates these problems. High incidence of communicable diseases is observed in the squatter and slum areas where the drainage system is inadequate. The number of working doctors to look after health facilities in DCC is insufficient.

Rapid Growth of Population and Migration : Urban population in Dhaka between 1974 and 1981 census more than doubled. This rapid population growth impeded the growth of service because there was a growing lack of coordination for the overall development of the city. No real efforts have yet been made to obtain information on various aspects of population and its growth rate for comprehensive planning purposes. Besides limited employment opportunities, large population with a higher rate of growth cause many problems for urban settlements such as unsanitary dwellings, poverty, lack of social services and amenities with consequent social and psychological stress.

Slums and Squatters : In Dhaka squatters have grown steadily since independence of Bangladesh .The presence of a large number of squatters create many problems, which are simultaneously social, economic and political. A squatters inhibit economic growth as the occupied land could be utilised for more profitable purpose. The government loses revenue in the form of assessment rates. As the number of squatters increases, their influence and resistance to eviction grow. The government finds it difficult to move them. The predominance of squatters in Dhaka reduces its image as national capital and on many occasions causes embarrassment to the government.

Pollution : Pollution is the corollary of indiscriminate industrialisation and it has aptly been described as the inevitable outcome of urbanisation. Dhaka suffer from both water and air pollution which have contributed to the deterioration of quality of overall environment. Industrial activity has inflicted significant damage to the environment and the river system surrounding these industrialised areas have also been affected. In Dhaka, many industries are located in or around the residential areas, which have a hazardous effect on the health of those who live there.

Conclusion

Mayor is the central person of DSCC organization structure surrounded by both elected commissioners and appointed officials . DSCC is empowered to perform a variety of socio-economic and civic functions, as described above. In practice, however, they can not perform all these functions owing to acute paucity of funds caused by poor and irregular collection of taxes, non-realization of taxes from government, semi-government and autonomous organization for years together and insufficient government grants. Although responsible for managing development works and the day to day running of their wards, ward commissioners are provided with little in the way of resources or power and have only three staff members – a security guard, a secretary and an errand boy. The ward commissioners select their ward’s priorities for development – mainly service and infrastructural developments such as roads, sewage and drainage maintenance, and improvements in electricity – and then submit proposals to the relevant authority, such as DCC or Dhaka Water and Sewage Authority. Budgets are controlled through DCC, which struggles to get the necessary funds from its tax base and central government transfers and thus, in turn, cannot give sufficient funding at the ward level. Financial resources fall far short of the amount required to run wards effectively.

It’s personnel management system is guided by Dhaka City Corporation Employees Services Rules, 1989 and the DCC Ordinance, 1983 while financial procedure is guided by the Bangladesh Municipal Committee (Taxation) Rules of 1960 and the City Corporations (Taxation) Rules of 1986.

Thought it is a decentralized body but central government apply various controlling measure over it through the Local Government Division of Ministry of LGRDC.

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Bibliography:

Samad , Rokshana Binta , Strengthening Financial Capability of a Municipality: A Case Study of Dhaka City Corporation, Journal of Bangladesh Institute of Planners, Vol. 2, December 2009, pp. 136-144,

Centre for Urban Studies (1976) Squatters in Bangladesh Cities: A Survey of Urban Squatters in Dhaka, Chittagong and Khulna- 1974. Dhaka: CUS.

Siddiqui, K. J. Ahmed, A. Awal and M. Ahmed (2000) Overcoming the Governance Crisis in Dhaka City. Dhaka: University Press Limited.

Kamal Siddiqui, et. al. Social Formation in Dhaka City. Dhaka : UPL, 1990