KARACHI, May 8: Proceedings of the City Council were marred on Thursday when a number of its members insisted on initiating a debate on the issue of their honorarium instead of taking up the item on the agenda.

Speaking on a point of order, a member of the House, Siddiq Rathore, requested the convener of the council, Tariq Hassan, to drop the Thursday’s agenda (New bye-laws for advertisements) and discuss the issue of payment of honorarium to members, or else the funds allocated in the 2002-2003 budget would lapse.

But when the convener asked the House to first take up the agenda and thereafter decide about the issue of honorarium, over a dozen of members, including Kazim Siddiqui, Dilawar Shah, Abdul Rasheed, Rasheed Baig, Ms Nasreen Shamim, walked out of the House.

However, on the intervention of senior presiding officer, Muslim Pervaiz, those who had left the house, again took their seats but order in the House could not be restored as some members kept on raising the issue, and it created a pandemonium-like situation.

Recalling that the Council had passed a resolution on May 15, 2002 and whereby it was demanded that Rs 10,000 per month as honorarium to each member of the House, Siddiq Rathore deplored that the Sindh government had not yet approved the same although the amount to be disbursed as honorarium had to be paid by the City government.

He alleged that the Sindh government on the one hand was spending Rs34 million per month on salaries, cars, fuel and other perks of provincial ministers and advisers and, on the other, the honorarium of the council’s members was being delayed although the SLGO-2001 has a provision for honorarium to city council’s members.

At this stage, a host of other members, including Saeed Ghani, Jaffer-ul-Hassan, Riaz Tabbasum, also started saying that they would not discuss any other issue unless the honorarium issue is not settled.

Seeing that a number of members are charged with emotions, the convener of the adjourned the proceedings till Saturday.

Later, convener of the House, Tariq Hassan, told newsmen that he had already raised the issue at different forums in Islamabad and Karachi because there is no logic in not giving honorarium to the members here when it was being given in other provinces.

He said that prior to Saturday’s session, he had convened a meeting of the group leaders to discuss the issue.