HYDERABAD, June 21: The funds of Rs151 million for the Hyderabad district government, released under the Annual Development Programme 2002-3, will lapse if they are not utilized before June 30.

A district government’s finance department official told this correspondent on Saturday that the funds were released under the personal ledger account (PLA) which was operated by the district coordination officer.

The district council members, on whose week-long protest the funds were released, wanted the amount to be deposited in the account-4 of the district, which was non-lapsable.

The EDO, finance, Sikandar Ali Shah, has gone to Karachi for securing the authority to transfer the amount from the PLA to the account-4.

It was learnt that till Saturday, the authority to be granted by the accountant general, Sindh, was not given.

If the amount lapses, the district government will have to go into the cumbersome procedure of getting the amount validated again in next fiscal year when the amount can only be utilized for ongoing schemes.

District Nazim Dr Makhdoom Rafiquzzaman, when contacted, said that he had obtained an assurance from the finance ministry officials that after the remaining amount of 151 million lapses, it would be again validated in the next fiscal year.

STUDY TOUR: The students of MSc Final Year, department of Freshwater Biology and Fisheries, University of Sindh, under the supervision of a senior professor, Dr Sultan Mehmood Laghari, proceeded on a 15-day All Pakistan Study Tour on Friday.