LARKANA, Feb 20: The district council in its Friday's session constituted a committee to review funds received and spent by the district government during eight months of the current fiscal year.

Badar Abbasi, tabling a motion in this regard, said that the members of the council did not know about fund release and the expenditure. District Nazim Khursheed Ahmed Junejo endorsed the proposal and said that the proposed committee should also monitor future fund release and spending.

Criticizing performance of the district accounts office, he said that even he was not aware of the state of funds with the accounts office. He said that Rs30 million had been allocated for 106 members of the council, which they would spend on development schemes in their areas.

He said that the Sindh government had sanctioned Rs70 million for renovation of outdated drainage system of Larkana city, to which the district government had added Rs30 million.

Safdar Mithani, Khursheed Khatyan, Amir Bakhsh Gaad, Muhib Pirzado, Barkat Shaikh, Mohammed Chandio and others supported the motion. Convener Nazir Ahmed Bughio, who presided over the meeting, constituted the committee which would be headed by him with some council members and government officers as its members.

Mr Shaikh drew attention of the session towards some shady business concerns fleecing people on the pretext of giving low-priced items of daily use. Three such agencies had set up offices in Larkana and had collected millions of rupees from the people who had booked cars, motorcycles, TV, VCR, etc, he said.

The district Nazim asked the chairman of the District Public Safety Commission, Dr Niaz Chandio, to launch a crackdown against such agencies. Mr Chandio said that he would soon start an action against such agencies.

EXAM BOYCOTT: The Government Secondary Teachers Association announced here on Friday that it would boycott SSC examinations beginning from Feb 24 in Larkana district to pressure the authorities to accept their demands.