MANSEHRA, Nov 16: Women councillors on Thursday walked out of the post-budget session of the Zila Council of Mansehra against what they termed the discriminatory policies of the government and the attitude of some male members towards women.

Earlier, the meeting presided over by the council convener, Shahzada Gustasif Khan, passed a deficit budget of Rs 324.483 million for 2001-2002, which includes salaries, development and Zila Council grants. The deficit will, however, be met through a special grant from the provincial government.

According to the break-up of the budget, Rs 69.569 million had been earmarked as non-salary expenditure, Rs 56.428 million as  non- development expenditure,  Rs 16.335 million as an estimated income from the octroi and Zila tax grants, which the provincial government would provide to the Zila Council, Rs 55.382 million as development grant, Rs 108.117 million for the Social Action Programme (SAP) and Khushal Pakistan Programme (KPP) and Rs 24.652 million for the Zila Council.

During the discussion on the budget, Mrs Shaheen termed the budget a joke with women councillors and women community, saying that in this budget even a single rupee had not been allocated for the women of the district. “We are supposed to fight for the rights of over 50 per cent population of the district, but the district government did not consult us while preparing the budget,” she pointed out.

The women councillors staged a walkout from the meeting during the speech of the district Nazim, Azam Khan Swati.