CHARSADDA: District Council Charsadda on Friday approved Rs2.19 billion budget amid protests by the opposition members.

The budget session was chaired by convener and naib nazim Musawir Shah.

Charsadda Assistant Commissioner Noor Wali Khan and heads of different departments also attended the session.

As soon as district nazim Fahad Riaz was invited to present the budget the opposition members comprising ANP and JUI-F councillors started chanting slogans, torn copies of the budget document and then threw them in the hall.

However, the district nazim presented the budget amid mayhem which continued till the end. Later, the budget was passed with 37 members voting in its favour out of total 73 members present in the council session. The passage of the district budget was made possible when one opposition councillor supported the treasury benches.

Of the total outlay, Rs52 million were set aside for payment of salaries, Rs20 million for non-salary purposes, Rs45 million for development works, and Rs25 million for higher secondary schools.

On the occasion, the district nazim said 20 per cent budget would be spent on education, and 10pc and 15pc on sports, agriculture and women development, respectively.

The opposition members were of the view that the session was called and budget was passed in a hurry, adding budget copies were given to them late which was illegal. They vowed to challenge the passage of the budget in court.

Opposition leader Qasim Jan termed the budget session as illegal, saying they would go to court in this regard. About switching of loyalty by one opposition councillor which helped the district government pass the budget, he said PTI and JI coalition in the district had set a bad precedent by resorting to horse-trading.

TMA EMPLOYEES PROTEST: The workers of tehsil municipal administration announced to boycott preparations for the Independence Day celebrations to protest government failure to announce compensation package for five TMA workers who were injured in a bomb blast at a checkpost near the district courts.

Speaking at a meeting, office-bearers of the municipal workers union demanded of the government to initiate enquiry against the bomb disposal unit personnel for negligence of duty.

They also announced a two-day mourning and stressed that the government should announce a package for the injured workers so they could avail treatment at hospitals.

District Nazim Fahad Riaz Khan and tehsil nazim Khalil Bashir Khan Umarzai also expressed concern over the injuries to poor employees of TMA. They termed it failure of BDU personnel to trace another IED planted near the site of earlier blast and urged IGP Nasir Durrani to conduct inquiry in this regard.

Soon after the first blast and clearance call by the BDU personnel the TMA workers were sent to cut bushes along the roadside. When they started work, a powerful IED exploded with a bang injuring five TMA workers.

Published in Dawn, August 6th, 2016