No councillors, no quick services

With an urgent need for birth certificates of his family members, Mohammad Ziaul Haque, an employee of a private organisation, went to the zonal office of Dhaka North City Corporation in the capital's Mohammadpur on Tuesday.

But he was asked to go to the the Ward-27 councillor's office in Farmgate instead, which he found to be locked.

He was also given the phone number of the ward secretary, but no one responded when he called the number throughout the day.

"It's utterly frustrating. We need the birth certificates urgently, as we have to get passports within a month for an urgent trip abroad," said Ziaul.

Around 25 people went to the office on Tuesday to get different documents, only to return empty-handed.

Yasin Ali, a staffer of the ward-27 office, said the office remains closed most of the time, with the secretary showing up at times for a brief period.

The same scenario persists in other ward councillor's offices.

On September 27, all councillors of the two Dhaka city corporations and 10 other city corporations were removed from their posts. Now the ward secretaries are performing duties in their stead.

DNCC and DSCC now started to issue different certificates from their ward-level offices in coordination with the zonal office, following a direction from the interim government.

However, many residents complained that they were facing difficulties in getting services.

It now takes three to four days to get certificates, as the ward secretary has to get approval from the zonal office before issuing a certificate.

A councillor used to issue these certificates within an hour, they added.

Councillors used to issue 23 types of certificates, including citizen certificates, birth and death certificates, character certificates, succession (warisan) certificates, income certificates, voter ID correction certificates, etc.

Previously, the citizens could reach the councillors anytime.

During a visit to ward-16 of Dhaka South City Corporation on Wednesday, this newspaper found a woman waiting in the councillor's office, where the ward secretary was providing services.

She was having trouble getting her succession certificate, as her elder brother -- who has had no contact with the family for a long time -- was not present.

"I am in dire need of this certificate to get the pension of our father, who passed away in August. If the councillor was still in charge, I wouldn't have faced this much hassle, as he knows us well," said the woman in her mid-50s.

"We are in serious trouble now," she added.

Secretary of Ward-16, Md Badruzzaman, said they cannot provide a warisan certificate to a person without the consent of a successor.

He also said they cannot provide the certificate within a day as they have to take the certificate to the zonal office for its vetting, which takes a few days to be completed.

Echoing Badiuzzaman, Ward-15 Secretary Zahirul Islam said they take five working days to complete a certificate due to the procedure.

After the services restarted on October 9, there has been a huge pressure, as around a hundred service seekers arrive daily, he said.

Mohammad Shajahan, a resident of Ward-15, said, "I am here to get a birth certificate for my five-year-old daughter. I need the certificate for her school admission. Earlier, the councillor would issue it within an hour, but now it takes five working days."

"It is very tough for me to come again as I am a job holder. I need permission to leave my office during office hours, and the ward secretaries do not stay after office hours," he said.

Contacted, Md Abu Naser, public relations officer of DSCC, said they already started services at the ward level and are taking further steps to provide the service smoothly.

Mir Khairul Alam, chief executive officer of DNCC, could not be reached for his comment despite repeated attempts.