Ensure citizen services

The current population of Dhaka is 21 million. This vast population requires a variety of civic services. The ward councilor's office in both Dhaka city corporations provides 14 types of citizen services. Among these, the most notable services include birth and death registration. In addition, the councilor’s office issues various certificates such as citizenship, character, inheritance, income, unmarried status, non-second marriage status, family membership, and attestation for elderly and disability allowances.

The councilors also provide verification, no-objection certificates (where applicable), and signatures on national identity cards and voter lists. As part of their regular duties, they oversee the work of mosquito control and sanitation workers, and manage the distribution of TCB (Trading Corporation of Bangladesh) products. However, since the fall of the Awami League government, many ward councilors, along with the two city mayors, have been absent. As a result, the provision of citizen services has been severely disrupted.

According to a report published in the media on Thursday, August 29, it was revealed that Dhaka North City Corporation has 54 ward councilors. Among them, at least 11 ward councilors, including the councilor of Ward 28, have not been attending their offices. Their whereabouts are unknown, and they are not reachable by mobile phone, causing a complete halt in services in those wards. The situation is similar in other city corporations across the country.

The Comilla City Corporation (CuSIC), which began its journey in 2011, is now facing a major crisis in providing civic services for the first time. Since the fall of Sheikh Hasina's government on August 5, CuSIC Mayor Dr. Tahsin Bahar Suchana and many of her allied councilors have gone into hiding. Dr. Suchana and about a dozen of her allied councilors have been accused in cases related to the attack and casualties during the Discrimination-Resistant Student Movement's protest march. This has led to a stalemate in citizen services and ongoing development work.

Many councilors are also facing various corruption allegations, which has led them to go into hiding. However, if citizen services are not maintained, various problems will arise. Many institutions across the country, similar to the city corporations, are now operating almost without leadership, including public universities and hospitals. We want these issues to be resolved swiftly. The longer these problems persist, the greater the citizens' dissatisfaction will grow. If public frustration increases, the interim government will be questioned.

The interim government has only been in power for a short time, and the public has placed various hopes and expectations on them. Citizens have tolerated many problems for now, as they do not wish to put pressure on the interim government. But how long can this continue? If these problems are not resolved quickly, questions will continue to arise.