Lower strata of society: FO vows to resolve public disputes on a priority basis

LAHORE: The Federal Ombudsman Ejaz Ahmad Qureshi has vowed to resolve public disputes/cases of the lower strata of the society through Informal Resolution of Disputes (IRD) system on priority basis.

Federal ombudsman asked investigating officers (IOs) to visit far flung areas to resolve grievances at their doorstep in the shortest possible time.

He said that the Wafaqi Mohtaisb Secretariat has earned public acclaim for its role and the services it has rendered since inception. He was chairing a progress review meeting of investigating officers at Head Office, Islamabad. All the IOs from Head Office attended the meeting while 17 regional offices participated through video link.

He was informed that as compared with last year, 32,006 complaints were received with the increase of 56% while 30,132 complaints were disposed of with the increase of 53% in the first two months of 2023.

He was further informed that 66% increase was recorded in receipt of online complaints. He expressed satisfaction over the disposal of complaints in the first two months of 2023. The Ombudsman Office resolved these cases by utilizing innovative measures and adopting simple procedures, without taking additional budget or employing human resources, he added.

In the context of non settlement of pension, gratuity and insurance claims of poor citizens by the Federal agencies on the ground of non-availability of funds, the Federal Ombudsman called upon his Advisors to submit to him the details to take up the matter with the relevant agencies. He also emphasized upon the implementation officers to pay special attention to timely implementation of his decisions to maintain public trust in the efficacy of the institution of Mohtasib.

Syed Qamar Mustafa, Associate Advisor while giving the progress of first two months, 2023 informed that maximum number of complaints have been received against BISP,LESCO, PESCO, K-Electric, SSGCL, MEPCO & AIOU. He said that complaints of Overseas Pakistanis rose from 13,019 to 25,215 showing 93.6% increase. He further informed that 24,227 complainants were facilitated at One Window Facilitation Desks at Airports and 854 complaints of Pakistanis abroad were resolved through Pakistan Missions abroad.

The federal ombudsman advised the officers to serve the public in the resolution of their grievances and extend best courtesies to the complainants.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023