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. The incorporated area is divided into several wards, which have elected commissioners. The mayor of the city is elected by popular vote every five years, and the post is presently held by Sadeque Hossain Khoka.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.Dhaka suffers from a chronically high crime rate and frequent incidences of political and religious violence. An undermanned and ill-equipped police force has caused governments to occasionally deploy the Bangladesh Army and paramilitary forces in major efforts to curb crime. Aside from Chittagong, Dhaka is the only city in the country with a water-borne sewage system, but this serves only 25% of the population while another 30% are served with septic tanks. Only two-thirds of households in Dhaka are served by the city water supply system. More than 9.7 million tonnes of solid wastes are produced in Dhaka city each year. While private and government efforts have succeeded in collecting garbage city-wide and using it as manure, most solid wastes are often dumped untreated in nearby low-lying areas and water bodies. Dhaka has one of the highest rates of death from infectious disease of any city in Asia.The city is divided into 10 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,[26] 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.