Mahbub Pial, Faridpur

Despite meticulously fulfilling all statutory requirements to be elevated to a City Corporation, the transition of the Faridpur Municipality has remained entirely stalled for the last seven years.

The process was bottlenecked back in 2019 during the 116th NICAR meeting, when the former Prime Minister introduced a non-statutory caveat stating the implementation would only take effect "subject to the establishment of the Faridpur Division." Remarkably, the Local Government (City Corporation) Establishment Rules, 2010, contain no such clause making city corporation status contingent upon division headquarters status. In fact, Faridpur has thoroughly met each of the eight statutory criteria mandated by the 2010 rules, often surpassing them significantly.

According to official data sourced from the Faridpur Municipality, the institution’s current parameters comfortably exceed the standard benchmarks under the 2010 rules. The regulations stipulate that an existing municipality must have a minimum population of 400,000, whereas Faridpur boasts a population of 550,000. While the required population density is 3,000 people per square kilometer, Faridpur's density stands at an impressive 8,000. Furthermore, its annual local revenue source is BDT 20 Crore against the required BDT 5 Crore, and the municipality's total annual income reaches BDT 51 Crore, vastly exceeding the statutory requirement of BDT 10 Crore. The area spans 66 square kilometers, well above the 25 square kilometers minimum baseline. It also contains 225 large and small industrially significant commercial establishments, offers robust expandable infrastructural facilities, and commands a clear public consensus in favor of the expansion.

The journey toward establishing the Faridpur City Corporation began over eleven years ago, leading to the postponement of the 2015 municipal elections to facilitate the upgrade. Following a directive from the Local Government Division on February 27, 2018, the then Deputy Commissioner of Faridpur, Umme Salma Tanzia, officially informed the ministry on March 15, 2018, that all eight criteria had been met alongside overwhelming public consensus. Consequently, on May 19, 2018, a government gazette was published under presidential order, directing the restructuring of Faridpur Municipality into 27 general wards and 9 reserved women's seats. On August 2, 2018, a pre-NICAR meeting—attended and signed by senior secretaries of Local Government, Housing, Land, Public Safety, Public Administration, and Finance—unanimously recommended the proposal for final approval. However, during the formal NICAR meeting on October 21, 2019, chaired by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the process was abruptly suspended. Although policy approval was granted, she attached the extra-legal conditions that city corporations would henceforth only be established at divisional headquarters, effectively shelving Faridpur's gazetted transition.

The residents of Faridpur have been paying a heavy price for this political delay. As an 'A' grade municipality, Faridpur receives the exact same annual budgetary allocation—roughly BDT 78 to 80 Lakh—from the Local Government Ministry as the tiny Goalando Municipality, which spans a mere 4.86 square kilometers with a population of just 37,802.

Spreading that same minor budget across Faridpur’s massive 66 square kilometers, 27 wards, and 550,000 residents has brought infrastructural development to a grinding halt. Roads have fallen into severe disrepair, and the lack of comprehensive drainage networks causes widespread waterlogging even during minor rainfall. While civic taxes have risen, civic amenities have plummeted, triggering widespread public frustration and a continuous cycle of citizen dissatisfaction.

The issue has gained fresh momentum recently. On April 17, State Minister for Foreign Affairs and Faridpur-2 MP Shama Obaid strongly raised the demand for the immediate declaration of the Faridpur City Corporation. Her call was echoed during a regional development exchange meeting at the Deputy Commissioner’s office, attended by the Prime Minister's Advisor for Finance and Planning (holding Minister status), Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir, where lawmakers and DCs from Faridpur, Madaripur, Shariatpur, Gopalganj, and Rajbari strongly demanded the simultaneous execution of both the Faridpur City Corporation and Division. Local hope has been further bolstered by the rapid approval of the Bogra City Corporation. Despite the previous regime's logic that non-divisional headquarters could not become city corporations, Bogra was granted final approval during the 120th NICAR meeting on May 7, completing its entire process in just over a year. The Local Government Division had initiated Bogra's proposal on April 10, 2025, the Cabinet approved it on April 12, 2026, and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman laid its foundation stone on April 20, culminating in the final NICAR approval this past May.

Faridpur-3 (Sadr) Member of Parliament Chowdhury Nayab Yusuf emphasized that the Faridpur City Corporation must be implemented at any cost. He stated that the previous fascist government unjustly snatched away their legal rights, leaving a massive population trapped in a deep civic crisis for a long period. He expressed firm optimism that the current well-loved democratic government will step forward to fulfill this completely just demand of the people of Faridpur. Adding to the sentiment, Abdul Aziz, President of the Faridpur Development Committee, stated that the seven-year delay has caused continuous public suffering, demanding immediate execution.

Awlad Hossain Babar, President of the Faridpur Nagorik Mancha, concluded that the former Prime Minister willfully ignored their legitimate rights, and the citizens now expect a swift end to this long-standing deprivation.