HYDERABAD, Aug 29: The Hyderabad district government has sought withdrawal of Rs111 million, allocated in its 2004-05 budget for the Hyderabad Development Authority, on the grounds that control of the HDA has not been given to the district government.

It is learnt that the amount has been allocated in the budget for the HDA in the wake of reports that the HDA and the Water and Sanitation Agency will be handed over to the district government.

The amount was to be utilized on seven schemes of the Hyderabad Greater Sewerage Project, phase-I, channelization of the sewerage old power house, diversion of sewage from Phulleli to treatment works, construction of pumping stations in the Sheedi village, Qasimabad, and other schemes.

From this amount, the district government intends to use Rs400,000 each on development schemes in union councils. The rest of the amount is to be used on uplift schemes in the district.

The district government was given a one-line budget of Rs3.16 billion by the Sindh government which led to a delay in presentation of the budget as the district was faced with a deficit of over Rs1 billion. The finance and planning department had to curtail unnecessary and non-development expenditures for keeping the expenditures within limits.

It is against this backdrop that the district government has sought withdrawal of Rs111 million from the HDA budget and utilisation of the same on development schemes in union councils.

When contacted, District Nazim Dr Makhdoom Rafiquzzaman said since the HDA and Wasa were not under the district government's administrative control, though he is the chairman of the board of governors of the HDA, the fund should not be given to the HDA.

He said the first budget of the district government was prepared by the Sindh government and second and third budgets were prepared by the district government itself, despite financial constraints of a one-line budget with a deficit of over Rs1 billion this year.

He said at a meeting, chaired by the Sindh governor in Karachi, he had proposed that the fund should be given to the HDA from the provincial Annual Development Programme as the authority was continued to be under the administrative control of the provincial government.

SUMMARY: The Sindh Commercial Institutes Teachers Association, which met here on Sunday, urged the Sindh finance minister to issue a summary of converting 26 government commercial institutes into a college of education and commercial practice.