HYDERABAD, June 14: A meeting of the district council's budget committee could not be held here on Monday due to absence of some of its members.

The members had boycotted it in protest against district naib nazim's decision not to release TA/DA to council members in advance to undertake a study tour of other provinces.

The meeting was held to sort out issues related to budgetary allocations before the budget was presented by the finance and planning officer. A meeting of the committee was called last week which could not be held as only one member of the committee, Abdul Qadeer Qazi, had turned up.

Miran Mohammad Shah and Ali Mohammad Shah told this correspondent that they did not attend Monday's meeting in protest against the attitude of council convener Nawab Rashid Ali Khan, who, they said, had refused to release funds for the study tour.

They said that the convener had claimed that District Nazim Makhdoom Rafiquzzaman should first transfer the funds to district governments accounts and then release the same to members.

Referring to convenor's claim that the Sindh government had disallowed permission to such tour, the members said, that the convenor should not have sought its approval at the first instance given the fact that funds of Rs2.3 million had already been allocated in the current fiscal budget for orientation and study tours.

Why such funds should be transferred and released by the district nazim, they said. They regretted that bureaucrats had not been cooperative with UC Nazims over the last three years now even their own elected people were causing them disappointment.

The convener referred to an opinion of assistant director local fund audit, stating therein that the Sindh government could make an amendment in provision in rule- 6(c) of Sindh Local Government Nazims, Naib Nazims and Members (Honouraria and Privileges Rule) 2001. Mr Khan informed that the resolution adopted by the council had been sent to the district nazim and now he could release funds.