SAHIWAL: The ​Municipal Corporation (MC) approved its first Rs713.57 million budget for the 2017-18 financial year.

This is the first budget Mayor Asad Khan Baloch got passed under the Local Government Act 2013.

Mr Baloch in a recent meeting requested Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to increase grants for Sahiwal under the Provincial Finance Commission Award.

A sum of Rs287 million has been allocated for non-development budget which mostly goes to the staff under the head of salaries. In the current financial year Rs595.63 million will be earned and Rs117.9 million have been added from previous year’s amount provided by the Punjab government in the first month of 2017.

The mayor said Rs50.3 million would be spent on annual development schemes, Rs15 million on construction of officials residences, Rs10 million on carpeting of Railway Road, Rs80 million on improving infrastructure of city, Rs24 million on sports and Rs4 million on installation of traffic signal at Pakpattan Chowk.

He said each elected chairman would get Rs2 million grant and all minority members and councillors elected on special seats would get Rs700,000 each.

Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2017