OKARA: The Okara district council (DC) approveditsñrstbiannual budgetthe proceedings of which were marred by an exchange of harsh words between two members.

The budget (January to June 2017) was presented in the DC House, with a total outlay of Rs288,928,500 and an expenditure of 269,960,500.

The House sanctioned Rs90 million for the completion of development of various pending and old projects including maintenance of the DC buildings.

It unanimously approved the budget within an hour.

The important items included purchase of a jeep worth Rs5.2 millionfor the DC chairman, 700,000 each for the two vice chairmen, cars worth Rs1.5 million for the chief officer, district officers for finance, regulation and services.

Sabahat Nawaz Khan, vice chairman, presided over the budget session where chairman Malik Ali Qadir and vice chairman Rao Saad Ajmal were also present. During the session, district council member Ali Yaseen Joya (backed by PTI) during his speech praised the chairman but another PTI-backed member, Nasir Mahar, interrupted him and asked him not to eulogise the chairman.

Both members exchanged harsh words and nearly came to blows but were prevented by other members.