Rajuk (Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha) a statutory body entrusted with the responsibility of initiating and implementing urban development plans through planning. Its precursor was the Dhaka Improvement Trust (DIT) which it replaced in 1987. DIT was founded in 1956 under the Town Improvement Act 1953 with the special objective of undertaking development programmes for Dhaka and Narayanganj and for some other areas in the vicinity of the two towns. A 13-member board of trustees formed the apex of the DIT administrative structure with a chairman at the top. The development challenge posed by the rapid urbanisation of Dhaka and its environs in the 1970s and '80s necessitated amendment to the administrative and legal structure of DIT. The outcome was the Town Improvement (amendment) Act 1987, through which DIT was transformed into Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Capital City Development Authority). Under this Act the physical area of operations of the reformed organisation (DIT's area of jurisdiction) was increased in 1991 from 320 sq miles to 590 sq miles with a population of nearly seven million.

Rajuk is now a public body managed by a board comprising a chairman and not more than five members. The chairman is the principal executive of RAJUK and the other members are government officials. All members of the board are full time officials with specific responsibilities within the broad framework of the Rajuk set-up having five different divisions such as, development and engineering; estate and land; finance, budget and accounts; planning; and architecture.

Rajuk revised the Master Plan for Dhaka city drawn previously in 1959 and undertook many development projects. Financially and administratively, the most extensive of these projects are Banani-Baridhara development project (1990); housing for Rajuk personnel (1990); development of Kawranbazar, Mohakhali and Postogola; development of low-land between Dhaka-Narayanganj road and railway; Uttara model residential town; development of Sonargaon Hotel area; clearing slums and developing the land adjacent to Zohura Market; expansion of Motijheel commercial area; and construction of several link roads. In addition to these ongoing projects, RAJUK has many other projects under study and planning.

Rajuk is a giant organisation as regards capital input and development activities. But its administrative structure, planning and co-ordination do not support the scale at which it is working. Its executive chief is a government officer at Additional Secretary level and his autonomy is constrained by the frequent interference by the Ministry of Housing and Public Works under which Rajuk operates. The organisation loses its efficiency in work often because of corruption and a lack of interdepartmental co-ordination. One common allegation against Rajuk is its operations as an organisation for serving the interest of the people close to power and especially, the members of the party in power. Projects take so much time in implementing that feasibility study loses value at the time of their implementation and as a result, many of the otherwise valuable projects are either finally discarded or embroiled into endless litigation. [Sirajul Islam]