Dhaka - Civil Administration

Civil Administration

The Dhaka municipality was founded on August 1, 1864, and upgraded to "corporation" status in 1978. The Dhaka City Corporation is a self-governing corporation which runs the affairs of the city. Recently(i.e. 2011), Dhaka City Corporation has been divided into two administrative parts - these are (1) Dhaka City Corporation-North and (2) Dhaka City Corporation-South - for ensuring better civic facilities. These two corporations are headed by two administrators. The incorporated area is divided into several wards, which have elected commissioners. The Dhaka Education Board is responsible for administering all public schools and most private schools with the exception of English-medium schools and madrassahs. All madrassahs in Bangladesh are governed by a central board while English-medium schools are under separate educational and governance structures.

The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) was established in 1976 and has 6,000 personnel in 12 police stations. With the rapid growth of the city, the force has been raised to 23,000 personnel and the establishment of 41 police stations has been completed and the creation of another 10 police stations is underway.

The city is divided into 25 (i.e. 2011) parliamentary constituencies. The two main political parties are the Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. Ramna contains the Secretariat, which houses most of the government ministries. The Supreme Court of Bangladesh and the Dhaka High Court are located in the city. The Bangabhaban palace has served as the official residence of the Viceroy of India, the governor of East Pakistan and presently the President of Bangladesh. The Jatiyo Sangshad Bhaban, designed by renowned architect Louis Kahn, houses the unicameral national parliament. The Baitul Mukarram, developed with a design resembling the Kaaba of Mecca, is the national mosque. Other historical monuments in the city include the Bara Katra palace, the Lalbagh Fort, the Hoseni Dalan and the Ahsan Manzil.

To fight rising traffic congestion and population, the national government has recently implemented a policy for rapid urbanization of surrounding areas and beyond by the introduction of a ten year holiday on income tax for new construction of facilities and buildings outside Dhaka.