LAHORE, July 20: The city government and its town councils will allocate Rs4.275 billion in their budgets for the current financial year to honour district Nazim Amer Mahmood’s promises to councillors during President Gen Pervez Musharraf’s referendum campaign.

A sum of Rs150,000 each will be made available for funding the development schemes identified by the 2,850 councillors. The city government will allocate Rs100,000 per councillor and the respective town councils the remaining Rs50,000.

The district Nazim has asked the councillors to submit their development plans to the city government and the respective towns for inclusion in the new budgets. He is also advising them to make arrangements for collectionm of sanitation tax from their areas. He is, however, silent about his referendum promise to recruit two sanitary workers on the recommendation of each councillor since the power to recruit them has been transferred to the union council Nazimeen.