Dhaka Mayors’ Discretionary Funds: Not always going to where it should

Affluent people and political leaders, instead of the poor, are often the beneficiaries of the Dhaka city mayors' discretionary funds that the mayors set up going beyond the city corporation act. 

Not much prudence is exercised in releasing the funds, say sources at the city corporations.

Crores of Taka are allocated every year for the city corporations to conduct social welfare activities and ensure civic services.

A sizable chunk is kept aside for the Mayor's Discretionary Fund and mayors have been disbursing money from there, in most cases, at will.

"There is no provision for discretionary funds in the city corporation act. It is their own invention. They can't do this," said local government expert Tofail Ahmed.

There are mentions of discretionary work in addition to mandatory functions. "But there is no mention of discretionary funds," he said of the act.

The budget documents of Dhaka north and south city corporations show that at least Tk 72 crore was allocated for the discretionary funds between 2016 and 2020.

Dhaka North City Corporation's (DNCC) revised budgets show that it allocated Tk 5 crore in 2016-17, Tk 15 crore in 2017-18, Tk 6.9 crore in 2018-19, Tk 6.5 crore in 2019-20, and proposed Tk 7 crore in 2020-21 for the discretionary fund.

On the other hand, Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) allocated Tk 6.2 crore in 2016-17, Tk 6 crore in 2017-18, Tk 7 crore in 2018-19, Tk 11.6 crore in 2019-20, Tk 2.97 crore in 2020-21, and proposed Tk 4.9 crore in 2021-22 for the fund.

Sources say the funds often end up in the pockets of well-off individuals.

Minu Rahman has been the councillor in the capital's Arambagh twice. She visited her children in the US at her own expense in mid-2019. But in March this year, she got Tk 2 lakh from the discretionary fund of DSCC for the medical treatment of her husband Mizanur Rahman, former vice-president of Motijheel Awami League.

Several months before receiving the fund, she became a member of DSCC's standing committee for social welfare, which is supposed to look after the underprivileged constituents.

In March this year, Nargis Mahtab, councillor of Kalabagan and vice-president of Jubo Mohila League, got Tk 2 lakh for her daughter's treatment.

In her affidavit, Nargis mentions owning two katha of land on Free School Street in Kathalbagan. This correspondent found a seven-storey building there. Her office is on the ground floor.

On the other end of the spectrum is Ali Hossain, a vendor of scrap metal in Lalbagh. He received Tk 1 lakh for the treatment of his daughter after she lost her right arm and leg by electrocution in November, 2017.

He needed Tk 3 lakh to buy prosthetics for his 19-year-old daughter. "I applied [to the DSCC] for Tk 3 lakh but got Tk 1 lakh," he said.

"My daughter was in the ICU of Dhaka Medical College Hospital for six months and 22 days. I spent all my savings on her treatment," he said.

Records show Tk 3.06 crore was spent from the DSCC Mayor's Discretionary Fund between July 2020 and the first week of August this year. Of the amount, Tk 60.25 lakh was donated to councillors and members of Jubo league, Jubo Mohila League, Swechhasebak League, Awami League's ward and thana committees, and Tk 23.75 lakh was distributed among people who are not members of any political party.

The rest of the money was spent on constructing mosques, buying gifts for imams and muezzins and handing out cash to the poor who suffered during the Covid-induced lockdown.

The majority of the individuals, who received the donations, are residents of Dhaka-10 constituency. The DSCC mayor was a lawmaker from that seat.

The Daily Star could not find out the identities of the beneficiaries of the DNCC mayor's discretionary fund.

"Local MPs or politically influential people often recommend names of individuals and the mayor gives them money from the fund," said a DNCC official.

"There are no rules specifically stating who will get the money and what will be the criteria," said a former chief accountant of a city corporation, adding that the predecessors of the current mayors also arbitrarily used the social welfare funds.

WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY?

Section 75 of the Local Government (City Corporation) 2009 Act says that on special purposes, upon the sanction of allocation by the government, a mayor could carry out emergency work in public interest without causing hindrance as much as possible to the regular work and spend from the funds allocated for the corporation.

Section 11 of the sixth schedule says rules can be formed on the "Custody, investment, operation, regulation and application of corporation fund; establishment and maintenance of sinking funds [a special fund to pay off loans]  and other special funds".

But no rules have been formulated on the Mayor's Discretionary Fund.

The current DSCC mayor took an initiative to formulate a policy on the fund on October 27 last year. A draft was placed at a board meeting, but it was not finalised, say officials of the Social Welfare and Slum Development Department of DSCC.

Contacted, DSCC Chief Accounting Officer Munan Howlader said the corporation's budget and expenditure are done as per the law.

He hung up the phone when faced with further questions about the funds.

According to documents, DSCC Secretary Akramuzzaman on different occasions signed the office order on disbursement of the fund. He did not answer the phone or reply to the texts sent by this correspondent.

Wishing anonymity, a DNCC official said, "We have nothing to do. We only carry out orders."

Tofail Ahmed said the city corporation is supposed to provide services not disburse money.

"Why do city corporations give out cash to people? It's not a relief organisation," he said, adding that section 74 and 75 of the act clearly state how the money should be spent.

Contacted, DNCC Mayor Atiqul Islam said, "We give money after thorough scrutiny.… One or two errors may have taken place. Many people come to me crying for help. It's not easy to refuse them."

He added that the discretionary fund was created in accordance with the act. DSCC Mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh could not be reached over the phone.

In reply to a text, he told this correspondent on September 28 to contact the public relations officer. Questions were sent to the officer in writing that very day.

On October 25, DSCC Public Relations Officer Abu Naser told The Daily Star that the local government act has given the mayor the power to create a discretionary fund.