Absence of mayors and ward councillors is disrupting civic services in cities, district towns and municipalities across the country, causing sufferings for the people.
Speculation are also in the air that chairmen and members of union parishads across the country may be removed as BNP has already demanded dissolution of the union parishads formed during past Sheikh Hasina regime.
If UP chairmen and members are removed, rural people will face suffering like the people of cities, towns and urban villages in absence of ward councilors.
Ward councillors are a vital cog in local government. They live in the areas they work in to ensure a genuine understanding of the needs of the ward. The ward councilors are a representative conduit between the communities they represent and the municipality or the city corporation, and they assist the community in identifying development needs and priority areas involved in the planning process.
As a result of the absence of mayors and ward councilors, the birth and death registration services are being disrupted, while people are facing service interruptions to a significant extent to get different kinds of civic service, including birth certificates.
“I need to get some certificates from the municipality, including inheritance certificate, for age correction in NID card. Additional Deputy Commissioner had been given the responsibility as administrator in Kanaighat municipality. It has been known that the upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) is now in charge of the administrator. I am not able to reach them since few days. As a result I am suffering,” said Riaz Uddin, a resident of Sripur village under Kanaighat municipality in Sylhet.
Top officials of the local administration are performing additional duties in addition to their regular work after the fall of Sheikh Hasina-led government. They are struggling to manage the additional duties of the administrators while performing other duties. As a result people are deprived of civic services.
“I am performing duties as administrator of Kanaighat upazila parishad and Kanaighat municipality at a time alongside the regular work and other additional duties. We have been assigned to carry out additional duties after the political changeover. We are trying to perform our responsibilities properly. But it is difficult to provide civic service to the people due to workload,” said Farzana Islam, UNO of Kanaighat upazila.
Alongside their regular duties, divisional commissioners, deputy commissioners (DCs), upazila nirbahi officers (UNOs) and other officials are now performing duties as administrators of city corporations, municipalities, zilla parishads and upazila parishads across the country.
Like people in urban villages, the residents of Dhaka city and other cities are also facing sufferings to get civic service.
Shahinur Islam, a resident of South Banasree in the capital; said that he wants to complete the birth registration of his child on urgent basis. But he is failing to complete it in absence of ward councillor.
The ward councillor offices in Dhaka provide some 14 types of services, including birth registration and death registration, inheritance (warish) certificate, attestation of various documents, verification of identities, and conducting various civic services.
A councillor's office also handles marriage or family membership, eligibility for elderly and disability allowances and no-objection certificates (where applicable), and signs off as a verifier for national identity cards and voter lists. Additionally, the councillor is responsible for overseeing mosquito control and sanitation workers and the distribution of TCB products. The fact that these vital services are being hampered at this critical time for the nation is extremely disconcerting.
The interim government in August removed all the mayors of 12 city corporations, mayors of 330 municipalities, chairmen of 61 zilla parishads and chairmen of nearly 500 upazila parishads across the country. Last week, the government also removed all the ward councillors.
The government appointed additional deputy commissioners and assistant commissioners (land) and other officials as administrators for the 330 municipalities.
The DCs are serving as the administrators of 53 zilla parishads, while divisional commissioners as administrators of Dhaka, Chattogram, Rajshahi, Khulna, Sylhet, Mymensingh, Rangpur, and Barishal zilla parishads. The UNOs are performing the duties as administrators at 495 upazila parishads.
Divisional commissioners and some other officials have been given the charge of city corporations.
The government also assigned the DCs and UNOs to perform duties as the presidents of managing committees or governing bodies of the non-government educational institutions across the country.
The government removed the presidents of governing bodies and managing committees in all the non-government educational institutions across the country.
