PESHAWAR, July 13: Members of the City District Council have criticised the budget for 2004-05 and said that the district's under-developed areas have been ignored.
At the outset of the council's proceedings, members protested against budgetary estimates, leading to a walk out. Convener Iqbal Khalil presided over the session.
They criticized the district government for allocating the lion's share to posh localities and said that it had allocated insufficient amount for other union councils' development schemes.
They said that each of the union council had been allocated between Rs300,000 and Rs400,000 for development schemes and called upon the government to increase the size of the annual development programme.
Those who opposed the budget were Arbab Tariq, Masood Afridi, Noor Rehman, Aurangzeb Khan, Shakeela Khan, Asmat and Sirajul Haq Yousafzai. They later also staged a walk out from the council's proceedings.
They said that roads in urban areas were in a bad shape while the district government had allocated only Rs 7.8 million for their repair and maintenance. Nazim of Hayatabad Sirajul Haq Yousafzai said that the deserving union councils had been neglected in the ADP, adding that union councils, Hayatabad 43 and 44, had been ignored. He suggested that funds for the Citizen Community Boards should be provided to union councils and they should be allowed to utilize the amount.
