Institute of Industry and Academic Research Incorporated
Register in
IRSSR Cover Page
International Review of Social Sciences Research

ISSN 2782-9227 (Print) 2782-9235 (Online)

Citizens’ Assessment of the Municipal Services Provided by Mymensingh City Corporation

Sharmin Begum & Tanjil Ahmed
Volume 3 Issue 4, December 2023

Abstract

City Corporations, which are crucial in defining the urban environment, have a significant impact on the quality of life of their residents. Hence, this study aims to explore citizens’ assessment and satisfaction with the different services provided by Mymensingh City Corporation. Employing an exploratory research approach, the study gathers quantitative data through surveys. The findings of the study revealed that 24% of participants strongly agreed that the Mymensingh City Corporation upholds the Citizen Charter while providing services, 38% were satisfied with the MCC’s present services, 12% claimed to have participated in the MCC decision-making process, 22% concurred that the MCC demonstrates an adequate level of transparency and accountability in its operations, 24% were satisfied with the MCC’s efforts to preserve public safety and civil defense, and 38% said that the MCC had done a good job of upholding urban planning. These statistics clearly indicate that MCC has enough scope to improve its overall performance regarding enhancing citizen satisfaction. Since the survey was conducted during the pandemic, it has restricted gathering data from an adequate number of respondents. However, there is a scope for further research by applying a mixed method with a large sample size. Finally, necessary policy recommendations have been discussed in the study that may improve the performance of the MCC.

Keywords: citizens’ assessment, municipal services, citizen charter, urban planning, accountability and transparency, Bangladesh

References

Afroj, S., Hanif, F., Hossain, M. B., Fuad, N., Islam, I., Sharmin, N. & Siddiq, F. (2021).  Assessing the Municipal Service Quality of Residential Neighborhoods based on SERVQUAL, AHP and Citizen’s Score Card: A Case Study of Dhaka North City Corporation area, Bangladesh. Journal of Urban Management.10(3). pp.179-191. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jum.2021.03.001.

Ahmed, T., & Akter, T. (2022). People’s Participation in Ensuring Good Governance at Local Levels in Bangladesh: A Study on Union Parishads. Journal of Governance and Development, 1(2), 27–46. https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.8019219

Ahmed, T., Rahman, A., & Akter, T. (2022). Recent Practices of People’s Participation in Different Avenues of Rural Local Government. PCD Journal, 10(1), 133–167. https://doi.org/10.22146/pcd.v10i1.5096

Ahsan, A. H. (2012). Local Administration in Bangladesh: Problems of Coordination. Dhaka: A H Development Publishing House. p. 59

Akter, M. (2023). Citizens’ Satisfaction with the Digital Land Services of Upazila Land Office: A Study of Barishal Sadar Upazila, Bangladesh. Indian Journal of Public Administration, 69(2), 468-481. https://doi.org/10.1177/00195561221142621

Almanasreh, E., Moles, R. & Chen, T., F. (2019). Evaluation of Methods Used for Estimating Content validity. Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy, 15(2), 214-221. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sapharm.2018.03.066.

Amin, A. M., Nion, S. R. and Badhan, M. R. R. (2022). The Impact of Digitalization in Local

Governance Procedure on Rural Area: A Study on Companiganj Upazila, Sylhet, Bangladesh. Journal of Economics and Sustainable Development. 13. 54-63. doi: 10.7176/JESD/13-8-06

Aurora, N. (2016). The Definition and Importance of Local Governance. Socail and natural Sciences Journal, 10(1), p.6.

Barua, U., Tamanna, A., Islam, I., Akhter, M., S., Mannan, S., Islam, M., A., Ahsan, R. and Ansary, M., A. (2020). People’s Awareness, Knowledge and Assessment Influencing Earthquake Vulnerability of a Community: A study on Ward no. 14, Mymensingh Municipality, Bangladesh. Natural Hazards, pp. 1121-1181. doi:10.1007/s11069-020-04028-2

Basher M. S., Haque, M. M, Ullah, M. S., Nasreen, S. A., Begum, A. A., Islam, M. N., Akhter, S. and Haque, M. S. (2012). Lifestyle Pattern in Selected Slums in Mymensingh Municipal Area. Mymensingh Medical Journal, 2(21), pp. 207-212. doi:22561760

Bhattacharya, D., Monem, M., Baniamin, H. M., and Rezbana, U. S. (2013). The Unheard Voices: Citizen’s Assessment of the State of Governance and Service Delivery in municipalities (Pourashaas) and City Corporations in Bangladesh. Dhaka: Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD).

Bhuiyan, J. H. (2011). Local Government System in Bangladesh: An Assessment. Journal of the Indian Law Institute53(1), 96–108. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/45148548

Bhuiyan, M. A. & Islan, M.A. (2023). Assessing citizen satisfaction of urban local government service and infrastructure in Bangladesh: A case study of Pabna municipality. Environment and Social Psychology. Volume 8 Issue 3 doi: 10.54517/esp.v8i3.1671

Chandan, M. S. (2017, November 03). Urban Development: The Promise of Municipalities. Dhaka: The Daily Star. Retrieved from https://www.thedailystar.net/star-weekend/the-promise-municipalities-1485469

Chowdhury, M. S., and Deb, P. (2012). Urban Local Government and Environmental Management in Bangladesh: A Study on Chunarughat Paurashava. Bangladesh Development Research Centre (BDRC). Virginia: Bangladesh Development Research Centre (BDRC).

Cockcroft, A., Milne, D., Oelofsen, M. et al. (2011). Health services reform in Bangladesh: hearing the views of health workers and their professional bodies. BMC Health Serv Res 11 (Suppl 2), S8 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6963-11-S2-S8

Economic Relations Division. (2021). Bangladesh Country Statement for The UN Committee for Development Policy Triennial Review Meeting, 22-26 February 2021.

Gabriela, A. and Elisa, M. (2013). Bangladesh: The Path to Middle-Income Status from an Urban Perspective. World Bank Publications., p. 52.

Hasan, M. R. (2022, 27 January). Urban planning in Bangladesh: Challenges and Opportunities. The Business Standard. Retrieved from https://www.tbsnews.net/supplement/urban-planning-bangladesh-challenges-and-opportunities-362911

Hasan, S. (2016). Public Service Delivery in Digital Bangladesh: Strategies and Challenges to Citizen Outreach. International Journal of Social Science, 5 (1), pp.7-17.

International Republican Institute’s (IRI) Center for Insights in Survey Research (CISR) (2023). National survey of Bangladesh March-April 2023

Ishtiaq, J. and Panday, P. (2012). Inter-Organizational Coordination and Corruption in Urban Policy Implementation in Bangladesh: A Case of Rajshahi City Corporation. International Journal of Public Administration. 35. doi: 10.1080/01900692.2012.661169.

Islam, M. R. (2022, April 14). Making City Corporation effective. The Financial Express.  Retrieved from https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/views/columns/making-city-corporation-effective-1649869161

Karim, M. R. (2015). E-Government in Service Delivery and Citizen’s Satisfaction: A Case Study on Public Sectors in Bangladesh. International Journal of Managing Public Sector Information and Communication Technologies (IJMPICT), 6 (2), pp. 49-60. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.5121/ijmpict.2015.6205

Kasem, M.I., Salam, U.B. & Rahman, M.S. (2022). Exploring the Sustainability of Service Process Simplification in Bangladesh

Kernaghan, K. (2011). Innovations in Municipal Service Delivery. Municipal World, December 2011. Retrieved from https://www.municipalworld.com/feature-story/innovations-in-municipal-service-delivery/

LGED (2019). List of Pourashava / City Corporation (Division wise). Retrieved from https://oldweb.lged.gov.bd/UploadedDocument/UnitPublication/10/686/List%20of%20Paurashava_City%20Corporation-28May2019.pdf

LGED (2018). Guidelines for Activity of e-Governance Initiated. p.2 Retrieved from https://www.ccc.org.bd/elements/guidelines.pdf

Mahmud, R. (2021). Citizen Satisfaction in the Service Delivery of City Corporations in Bangladesh. Scholars Journal of Research in Social Science, 1(2), 1-13.

Mannan, M.A. (2013). Access to Public Health Facilities in Bangladesh: A Study on Facility Utilisation and Burden of Treatment. Bangladesh Development Studies Vol. 36, No.4

Mian, M.M., Paul, A. K., Alam, M.D., Rasheduzzaman, M. and Saifullah, A.S.M. (2013). Solid Waste Management Practice in Mymensingh Municipal Area, Bangladesh. Journal of Environmental Science and Natural Resources. 5. doi:10.3329/jesnr.v5i2.14813.

Muriu, A.R. (2013). Decentralization, citizen participation and local public service delivery: A study on the nature and influence of citizen participation on decentralized service delivery in Kenya, Schriftenreihe für Public und Nonprofit Management, No. 17, Universitätsverlag Potsdam, Potsdam, https://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-65085

Mymensingh City Corporation to Hold First Election on May 5. (2019, April 05). Dhaka: bdnews24.com. Retrieved from https://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2019/03/25/mymensingh-city-corporation-to-hold-first-election-on-may-5

Osborne, S.P. & Strokosch, K. (2022). Participation: Add-on or core component of public service delivery? Australian Journal of Public Administration. Volume 81, Issue1, Pages 181-200. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8500.12536

Osman, F. A. (2016). External Inducement, Internal Support: Explaining the Health Sector Policy Gains in Bangladesh. Public Policy and Governance in Bangladesh. Routledge.

Parliamentary Affairs, J., & Law, M. o. (2020, September 1). The Constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh | 59. Local government. Retrieved from Bdlaws.minlaw.gov.bd: http://bdlaws.minlaw.gov.bd/act-367/section-24613.html

Patel, S. L. (2011). Reinventing local governments: People’s participation and empowerment. The Indian Journal of Political Science, 72(2), 403–407. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42761425

Sddiqui, K. (2008). Local Government in Bangladesh (3rd ed.). (K. Siddiqui, Ed.) Dhaka: The University Press Limited (UPL)

Syed Saad Andaleeb, Nazlee Siddiqui, Shahjahan Khandakar (2007). Patient satisfaction with health services in Bangladesh. Health Policy and Planning, Volume 22, Issue 4, July 2007, Pages 263–273, https://doi.org/10.1093/heapol/czm017

Taukdar, M. R. (2009). Rural Local Government in Bangladesh (1st ed.). Dhaka, Bangladesh: Osder Publications, p. 45

The Business Standard (2019). 62% people unhappy with local govt services. Available at: https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/62-people-unhappy-local-govt-services

The World Bank (2023). Overview. The World Bank. Retrieved from https://data.worldbank.org/country/bangladesh?view=chart

The World Bank (2022). Strengthening Urban Management and Service Delivery through Performance-Based Fiscal Transfers. Retrieved from https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/urbandevelopment/brief/strengthening-urban-management-and-service-delivery-through-performance-based-fiscal-transfers

Uddin, N. (2019), “Empowerment through participation in local governance: the case of Union Parishad in Bangladesh”, Public Administration and Policy: An Asia-Pacific Journal, Vol. 22 No. 1, pp. 40-54. https://doi.org/10.1108/PAP-10-2018-0002

UN-Habita (2010). The state of Asian cities 2015. Urban Transformations: Shifting from Quantity to Quality. Nairobi: UNESCAP. Retrieved from https://gsdrc.org/topic-guides/urban-governance/concepts-and-debates/what-is-urban-governance/#unescap-unhabitat-2010

Voting in Mymensingh City Polls Underway. (2019, May 5). Dhaka: DhakaTribune. Retrieved from https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/election/2019/05/05/voting-in-mymensingh-city-polls-underway

William, A. R. (2020, September 4). What is Urban Governance? – GSDRC. Retrieved from GSDRC: https://gsdrc.org/topic-guides/urban-governance/concepts-and-debates/what-is-urban-governance/

Cite this article:

Sharmin Begum & Tanjil Ahmed (2023). Citizens’ Assessment of the Municipal Services Provided by Mymensingh City Corporation. International Review of Social Sciences Research, 3 (4), 1-25. https://doi.org/10.53378/353020

License:

ai generated, holographic, interface-8578468.jpg
library, people, study-2245807.jpg
bookshelf, books, library-2907964.jpg
Scroll to Top