HYDERABAD, May 9: Around 80 road schemes in the district are lying incomplete as the Sindh finance department has not released sugar cess funds of Rs82 million, sources told this correspondent on Sunday.

They said that the amount had lapsed for fiscal 2001-02 after the accountant general branch did not send seal authority to the district treasury office. They said that nothing was released for year 2002-03 under sugar cess though it was collected from growers in Matiari, Tando Allahyar, Tando Mohammad Khan and Hyderabad talukas.

According to the rules, sugar cess fund is supposed to be utilized only in areas from where it is collected. Nazims of union councils concerned had raised hue and cry in the last session of the district council.

They had apprised the meeting that sugar cess funds were released to other districts but the amount was not revalidated by the Sindh finance department for the Hyderabad district.

The sources said that after the release of Rs82 million for fiscal 2001-02, the AG branch did not send seal authority that was mandatory to utilize funds and when the fiscal year was over the funds had lapsed.

An official of the district finance department claimed that the Sindh government had allocated Rs82 million to other projects that was why the amount could not be released to the district.

"The finance department has nothing to do with this fund as it is sugarcane growers' money pooled by the Sindh government under the head of sugar cess" said Miran Mohammad Shah, chief whip district council.

He said that the utilization of this fund by the Sindh government for other purpose was illegal and immoral and no excuse could be accepted for it. UC Hatri Nazim Khawind Bux Jahejo said that development in his areas was at a complete standstill as the EDO works and services had put all schemes under the sugar cess.

Only Rs40 million were released followed by another instalment of Rs2.04 million in on-going year for 97 schemes of roads prepared against sugar cess. The sources said that an amount of Rs144.255 million was to be spent on these schemes but so far 17 schemes had been completed.

The sources said that lapsed funds Rs141 million had been revalidated by the Sindh finance and planning department and would be released soon by the finance department due to efforts by District Nazim Dr Makhdoom Rafiquzzaman and EDO finance and planning Sikandar Shah.

The district government had allocated Rs3.7 million to each UC in the district after drawing funds from non-development heads. When Rs141 million would be released, the amount would again be kept in non-development heads.

An official of the finance department said that the National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB) had decided to release all kinds of funds to the district government in the non-lapsable account No- 4.

The NRB intended to increase the validity of personal ledger account (PLA) from one year to three years, he said. The sources said that 50 days were left in the expiry of fiscal 2003-04 and in case sugar cess funds were not released then schemes would remain incomplete.

EXAMS: A vigilance team constituted by the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Hyderabad during a surprise visit to Umerkot on Friday detected as many as 95 copying cases at two examination centres, reports our bureau.