HYDERABAD, July 31: City Taluka Nazim Haji Moinuddin Sheikh has demanded release of full share of octroi and zila tax of the taluka municipal administration so that salaries of its employees can be paid on time.

Delivering his budget speech at the taluka council session here on Friday, he urged the central and provincial governments to enhance resources of the TMA.

Mr Shaikh said that past experiences had showed that non-payment of the salaries due to non-release of the octroi and zila tax share to the TMA had hampered its work.

Referring to the sanitary situation in Hyderabad, the nazim said that only 790 sanitary workers in the city though 1,600 workers were required according to census figures of 1998.

Currently, each sanitary worker was catering to the needs of 646 people, he pointed out and added that the workers were mostly old and sick people thus they failed to properly discharge their responsibilities.

He stated that after permission from the Sindh government, 15 sanitary workers had been appointed on daily wages.

During his speech, two members, Azhar Sheikh and Faheem Baig Mughal, staged a protest sit-in in the council while covering their mouths with pieces of cloth. They carried a placard inscribed with the slogan of "self-imposed budget of the Nadim-e-Shehar is accepted." Later they also staged a walkout.

Qamaruddin Sheikh and Illahi Bux welcomed an increase in the volume of the budget as compared to last year, and said that it was a happy augury that ratio of new year's development budget was close to 32 per cent of the entire budget which was not more than 13 per cent in previous years.

Labour councillor Abdul Waheed Ajmeri pointed out that incomes from commercial schemes, to be launched by the TMA, had been unnecessarily confined to certain amounts which would encourage builder not to offer more amount on schemes.