LARKANA: Larkana deputy mayor’s outburst against mayor, accusing him of favouritism in distribution of funds and resources, marred otherwise smooth proceedings of budget session for Larkana Municipal Corporation here on Tuesday.

Deputy Mayor Mohammad Ameen Shaikh said the mayor, Advocate Anwar Ali Luhar, did not provide him even a bulb for his office.

The staff working in his office was not given fans, water, or even chairs and “I have to bring teacups from my home”.

He alleged that the mayor was providing all facilities, including sweepers and bulbs, to his favored chairmen, and did not consider other members more important. “Members like me should also have the right to speak but only preferred chairmen are invited to meetings,” he complained.

He pointed out that the members, including him, were given the budget book during the session and had no time to go through it. The budget copy should have been provided to all members well before the meeting so they could have analysed the figures and contributed positively to the discussion, he said.

He objected to the budget figures, calling them manipulated. The budget was nothing but a fabrication of numbers, he said.

Participating in the debate, council member Munir Ahmed Soomro proposed increasing annual grant of the Larkana Press Club to Rs2m and suggested financial aid for those affected by house fires during extreme heat.

He emphasised the inclusion of solar panels, water taps and other welfare projects in the budget book.

Shabiran Jokhio demanded allocating funds for marriage of poor and orphaned girls.

Amna Jamali proposed increasing the budget for scholarships, pilgrimage (umrah), and water taps.

Sher Mohammad Laghari, Kashif Umrani and others raised issues related to sanitation, restoration of public parks and lack of sports grounds.

The mayor, who presided over the session, assured members that another meeting would be convened soon to address their concerns.

He said the shortcomings pointed out in this session would be removed and thanked all members for approving the budget unanimously.

Published in Dawn, June 18th, 2025