Spokesman Report
Federal Ombudsman Ejaz Ahmed Qureshi, on Wednesday, said that most of the complaints filed by public were against power and natural gas distribution companies.
He was addressing a press conference after chairing a meeting with representatives of different federal government departments and service provider companies here at Federal Ombudsman Regional Office. Senior Adviser and In-charge of Regional Office Syed Anwar Haider was also present on the occasion.
The federal ombudsman said that power distribution companies and natural gas providing companies had a vast clientele consisting of millions of people due to which the number of complaints against them was also higher. Same was the case with other government entities which dealt with public, he argued and added that there was a significant number of complaints against BISP, EOBI, State Life and Postal Life insurance was also high.
Ejaz Qureshi said that efforts were underway to make the federal ombudsman secretariat (FOS) more active and effective for ensuring resolution of public issues at the earliest, and provision of relief to masses. He informed that the secretariat had received and taken action on 110,000 complaints in year 2021, while the number of complaints received in the current year 2022 is expected to reach 160,000.
The FOS disposed off a complaint within 60 days, while implementation on the decision was also ensured within a month or two, Qureshi said adding that compliance ratio in decided cases was over 90 percent, and implementation in the remaining cases faced delays due to filing of appeal to the president, or taking the matter to courts.
He said that regional offices of the ombudsman were working in different major cities, while open meetings of advisers were also being conducted at towns and tehsil headquarters to listen to and resolve complaints of people in far flung areas.
The advisers were also directed to hold frequent visits to departments and organisations involved in public dealing like NADRA, EOBI and Utility Stores and resolve issue of minor nature on the spot, while referring the major issues to headquarters, he said and added that the some issues were also resolved through mediation.
The federal ombudsman said that the FOS was also in close coordination with provincial ombudsman offices and departments and regulatory authorities to ensure remedy in cases pertaining to provincial departments and private entities.
Highlighting efforts for resolving issues of overseas Pakistanis, he said that a dedicated wing was set up in that regard and foreign missions were requested to reserve one day in a week to receive and resolve problems of Pakistanis working abroad as they were playing a remarkable role in economic development of the country.
He added that on the directives of FOS one window operation was launched at all international airports of the country where officials of 12 relevant agencies and organisations, including FIA and Customs were deputed to facilitate the passengers.
The FOS was giving special attention to resolve issues pertaining to children and a dedicated wing was working at FOS to deal with their issues, while a help line 1056 was established to receive complaints of children, he said and added that the secretariat in collaboration with the Ministry of Human Rights and various NGOs carried out a research study on street children and their issues, in Islamabad.
The report – containing issues like physical, psychological and sexual abuse being faced by street children and recommendation to address the issues – was shared with all the relevant departments so that appropriate measures could be taken to elevate their status, he mentioned, adding that the secretariat would ensure follow up of the report and on successful implementation of the recommendations in the federal capital, the scope of the initiative would be extended to provincial level as well.
The ombudsman lauded role of media in sensitizing the public regarding their rights and stressed the media organisations to highlight the positive developments and good performance of organisations.
Responding to a question, he said that the FOS was eager to establish its offices at district level, but hefty financial requirements were the major constraint in it. Despite that, the FOS was reaching out to people through its regional offices, khuli katchehries, helpline and online apps, he said adding that it was receiving online complaints and was taking swift action on them.
Earlier, the federal ombudsman chaired a meeting with heads of different agencies, including Amir Zia, Chief Distribution Officer K-Electric, Lt Col (Retd) Muhammad Anees Khan, DG NADRA, Imran Munir, MD SSGC, Capt. (Retd) Asim Khan, Director (Operations) FIA, and officers of State Bank, State Life Insurance, EOBI and other departments.
Anwar Haider briefed the meeting about overall performance of the regional office and informed that the agencies were extending cooperation regarding disposal and resolving of public complaints.
He apprised the Wafaqi Mohtasib that there had been some issues regarding implementation and reporting of the cases previously, “but now most of the reports are being received on the first hearing of cases”.