Only 9,000 Downloads in Two Months: DSCC's 'Clean Care' App Fails to Gain Traction for Lack of Publicity
The 'Clean Care' app was built to ensure citizens' participation in the waste management activities of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC). But it is not getting the expected response. Only 9,000 people have downloaded the app in the two months since its release.
The app's full operations began on 1 August this year, aiming to quickly receive and effectively resolve cleanliness-related complaints from residents of the southern part of the capital. Since then, a total of 2,429 complaints have been received in two months. Of them, 679 complaints are being resolved and the management of 119 is pending, according to those involved.
A review of the app's data shows its average rating is not bad — 4.2 out of 5. Yet among millions of internet users, only 31 citizens have commented on the app on the Google Play Store. Most commenters spoke positively, but several complained about the complexity of signing up and the limited publicity.
One user, Ar Rafi Hossain Khan, wrote: 'I lodged a complaint about a problem through the app. The problem was resolved very quickly.' But another user, Md Golam Mostafa, wrote: 'Email verification is not working, password reset is not working either.' A third user, Nazmus Sakib, said: 'The OTP code does not arrive after signing up. Because of this, registration cannot be completed.'
Those involved with the 'Clean Care' app say that although it was built around waste management, complaints about all kinds of problems are now being accepted. The app has separate sections for complaints about waste from homes, businesses, offices and educational institutions, waste from fairs and festivals, waterlogging, and roads and drains.
According to Bangladesh's sixth Population and Housing Census report published in 2022, the population of the DSCC area is about 4.2 million. Experts say the number has now reached an estimated 5 million. Against that figure, only 9,000 downloads show how little the app has reached city residents.
The DSCC authorities initially assigned private IT entrepreneur Md Golam Rabbani to build and launch the app. He says they expect the number of users to reach 10,000 soon. Their actual user base is around 7,000; on average about 100 people join daily, and around 50 complaints come in each day.
Noting that users have so far grown mainly through publicity on the city corporation's website and Facebook page, Rabbani said: 'If the corporation authorities wanted, they could have promoted it more nicely, more effectively.'
Only one office room at the DSCC's Nagar Bhaban has been allocated to run the app's activities. Moreover, the operation has so far run entirely on voluntary work. Golam Rabbani said: 'We have given it for free all this time. We want support to take this forward. For that, the city corporation may give us some financial assistance.'
Professor Dr Adil Muhammad Khan of the Urban and Regional Planning Department at Jahangirnagar University said: 'If such initiatives are not branded or publicised, how will people know about them? So far there have been only about ten thousand downloads, which is very small compared to the total population of southern Dhaka. And alongside the app, there should also be arrangements to complain through a hotline and a website.'
Urban experts say the city corporation must treat such work with greater importance and arrange regular publicity in order to win citizens' trust. Many who downloaded the app have also reported technical problems while using it.
Asked about the overall matter, DSCC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Md Khaybar Rahman said: 'More publicity is needed. If everyone, including the media, arranges publicity together, the number of users will increase a lot.' However, the CEO said the DSCC has no special campaign planned right now.
In other words, although the technology-based citizen service initiative has been launched, its benefits remain limited due to gaps in publicity and technical support. Those involved believe the picture could change if the corporation comes forward with active promotion.
