Islamabad: Federal Ombudsman Ejaz Ahmad Qureshi stated that maladministration and bad governance are two sides of the same coin.
Both breed in an environment of favouritism, discrimination and corruption. Addressing maladministration, therefore, is essential for ensuring sanctity of human rights and achieving the ultimate goals of good governance and the rule of law. He stated this while addressing a press conference on the occasion the 40th year of the establishment of the Ombudsman institution, says a press release.
He added that the office of the federal ombudsman was established vide the President’s Order No. 1 on 24 January 1983 with the explicit objective to diagnose, investigate, redress and rectify any injustice done to a person through maladministration by the government agencies. Recognising the significance of the role of ombudsman, Pakistan Post has issued a commemorative postage stamp of Rs20 on this occasion. The ombudsman institutions, around the world, act in support of supreme judiciary and contribute in making dispensation of justice more accessible and inexpensive. He added that the Wafaqi Mohtasib’s institution is the poor man’s court. The complainants are not required to hire the services of a lawyer nor have to face lengthy legal processes as the cases are disposed of within the prescribed limit
of 60 days. Reviewing the performance of the Wafaqi Mohtasib’s institution during the
last 40 years, he stated that more than 1.9 million households have benefitted from
the services of this office since its inception.
Comparing the number of complaints received during the year 2022, he said that the receipts rose from 110,405 in 2021 to the highest ever number of 164,174 (49% increase) and disposal reached an all-time high of 157,770, marking an increase of 47.7% over the figures of the year 2021. He said that 137,423 complaints of Overseas Pakistanis were resolved with the increase of 133% as compared to 2021. He further stated that people’s trust has immensely increased resulting in a dramatic increase in the registration of complaints and complaints worth over Rs3 billion of disputed amounts were addressed by this office during the last year.
Source link: https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1033927-40-years-of-ombudsman-institution-marked