BAHAWALNAGAR, Sept 2: The district government was not able to approve its budget for 2002-03, technically.

According to well-placed sources, the budget passed by the district assembly on July 31 was supposed to be forwarded by the convener before August 31 or the allocated money would go back to the provincial government.

However, District Niab Nazim Mian Shoukat Ali Lalika allegedly sat on the budget due to a confrontation with Nazim Ali Akbar Wains and sent a drastically-changed document to DCO only on Aug 30.

To cite an example of the extent of changes, the one-million-rupee allocation approved for each union council had been doubled by the convener.

According to the rules, the budget would now be passed by the provincial government.

The delay in release of funds has created many difficulties for employees of the district government.