Glimpses of Dhaka City Corporation (DCC)

Dhaka Municipality was established on August 1, 1864. Mr. Skinner,the district magistrate of Dhaka, was the first ex- officio chairman of Dhaka Municipality. Mr. Ananda Chandra Roy was the first elected chairman in 1885.

After the partition of India in 1947, Dhaka Municipal Committee was superseded by the government on November 19, 1947. The chairman would be an official member appointed by and holding office during the tenure of the government.

Dhaka became the capital of Bangladesh with the independence of Bangladesh in 1971. Ward Commissioners elected one of their members as the municipality chairman with the introduction of Pourashava Ordinance, 1977, Dhaka Municipality was awarded the status of City Corporation in 1978 and the existing chairmen became the mayor of the corporation in March 1982. The corporation was statute with the introduction of Dhaka Municipal Corporation in 1983. In 1990, Dhaka Municipal Corporation was renamed Dhaka City Corporation and was divided into 10 zones to fulfill the objectives of decentralization.

In 1993 the government with a view to democratizing the city corporation, made drastic amendment to the 1983 ordinance and provided that the mayor and the commissioners would be elected by direct election on adult franchise. Now Mr. Sadeque Hossain Khoka, MP is the second elected mayor Dhaka City Corporation.

According to the law, the executive power of the corporation is vested in and exercised by the mayor and the term of the elected body is five years. It meets at least once a month for the transaction of business. The corporation constitutes eight standing committees and other committees to monitor and guide the diversified activities of the organization. The Chief Executive Officer, who is assisted by the Secretary. The Heads of Departments and Zonal Executive Officers, assists the Mayor about 11.000 employees carry out various duties, catering to civic needs.