February 26, 2003	Wednesday	Zul Hijjah 24, 1423

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RAWALPINDI, Feb 25: The Tehsil council, in its session on Tuesday, approved several contracts and passed a number of resolutions. The members, however, targeted the Nazim for not relieving the Tehsil Municipal Officer (TMO) despite the passage of a week after his transfer orders.

In a letter to the TMO, the Nazim writes that he has talked to the local bodies minister about his case and that he should continue.

The letter was read in the House after the public representatives questioned why the TMO was not relinquishing the charge. They also asked the Nazim to explain the position of the TMO.

The members of the rural areas, including Sheikh Sajid, Khalil, Faisal Qayum, Tahira Shaukat, Masood Mirza, Junaid, and Sahibzada Zahoor, protested against the Nazim for not releasing funds for development works in their respective localities.

The House staged an hour-long walkout against delay in releasing funds and came back on the request of the speaker, Sajjad Khan.

The House approved two contracts which are: auction of TMA’s surplus and confiscated goods worth Rs0.371 million and 10-day cattle fair, held before Eid for the sale of sacrificial animals, amounting to Rs0.25 million.

It also passed two resolutions but rejected another. A Naib Nazim requested the House that payments should be released to contractors only after the approval of the members concerned to avoid any lapse in the projects. The resolution was unanimously passed. Another resolution was regarding the honoraria for 34 members elected on special seats. The House was informed that the TMA was passing through financial constraints and could pay only Rs1,000 instead of Rs2,000 approved in the budget.

Hot debate took place on the issue. Many of the members, especially the women councillors, raised objections over it. They were convinced when the speaker suggested that in the current budget, they would be paid Rs1,000 but would be increased to double from the next financial year.

The accounts officer told the House that they received Rs4.5 million monthly from the government of Punjab for development works. He asked the members to submit applications with details of schemes to be completed with these funds, only after the approval of the Nazim. This also resulted in protests amongst the members. They demanded details since how long this amount was being provided and how much had accumulated so far. The TMA officials failed to give exact details and so the resolution was not approved.

The issue of commercialisation fee contract, which had subsided for some time, again surfaced in this session. The members refused to approve the contract as they had been sidetracked in finalising its details.