KHAIRPUR, Feb 26: District Nazim Nafisa Shah has demanded an investigation into causes of rejecting annual development programme of her district by the Sindh chief minister.

Ms Shah, who belongs to People's Party Parliamentarian-backed Awam Dost Panel, made the demand in a letter sent to the Sindh Local Government Commission on Feb 23.

The one of the two women district Nazims in Sindh also complained of political victimization at the hands of the provincial coalition, particularly of an interference in the district affairs by a provincial minister.

She stated that in response to a fax message of Khairpur taluka Nazims dated Jan 18, the CM secretariat had sent a reference to the additional chief secretary to direct her to prepare a fresh Annual Development Programme 2003-4 for her district.

She insisted that the ADP, proportionately covering all the eight talukas of the district, had been carefully prepared and then approved by the district council according to budget and development rules and the Sindh Local Government Ordinance 2001 and the CM secretariat had no reason to reject it.

She stated that for a year she had been sending reference after reference regarding the interference by the minister and violation of law by the government officers posted in the district but neither an action was taken nor an investigation had been instituted against them.

On the other hand, she said, on only one reference from her rivals, which she termed as based on malafide intention, the CM secretariat had issued the directive. Referring to the directive to again prepare the ADP, she asked under which SLGO 2001 provisions could the district Nazim reverse the decision of the district council.

She asserted that the arbitrary direction by the CM office to the additional chief secretary to instruct the district Nazim were contrary to the law. She elaborated that the chief minister could set aside an order of a district Nazim under section 25 of the SLGO 200 but there was no provision for him to reject a decision of an elected council. It would be a sad event, she said, if public money was lost due to petty politics of the ruling party.