The federal ombudsman, the voice of the common man, is successful 40 supplementary year
Millions of rupees of electricity, gas, telephone, insurance, pension were provided to the people, problems of overseas Pakistanis were also solved.
(1983…… 2023) Faisalabad (94 news) An organization that is the voice of the common man 40 The year is over.
Pakistan is one of the few countries in South Asia where the first federal ombudsman institution was established.
24 This institution, which came into existence under the presidential decree on January 1983, started regular work on August 8, 1983. The main objective of the establishment of this institution is to redress the complaints of the public against administrative abuses, discrimination, exploitation, negligence and incompetence at the hands of the government institutions running under the federal government or its affiliates. Especially those people who are downtrodden in the society who are not heard anywhere and cannot afford the heavy expenses of the courts and lawyers, if they write an application on a plain paper and send it to the federal ombudsman, the action will start without delay and the next Daily the complainant is informed of his complaint number and date of hearing.
During this journey of forty years, this institution has been growing at a positive pace in terms of quality and quantity along with increasing its capacity and efficiency. Basically it is a poor man's justice where there is no need for a lawyer and no fee to the complainants and every complaint is decided within sixty days. Since its inception, this institution has provided free and timely justice to nearly nineteen lakh complainants.
1983From the first federal ombudsman Sardar Muhammad Iqbal to the current federal ombudsman Ijaz Ahmad Qureshi, this institution has seen 12 heads. Justice (T) Sardar Muhammad Iqbal was the Federal Ombudsman earlier, so he did many things to create the character of this institution and to establish its record on the institutions. The presidential order for the establishment of the federal ombudsman was also prepared by him. Until 2013, the federal ombudsman secretariat issued the 1983 presidential order no.(1) Worked under Meanwhile, sometimes complex cases dragged on for years. 2013 During the tenure of Federal Ombudsman Mohammad Salman Farooqui, some amendments were made in the law and a period of sixty days was fixed for the decision. Meanwhile, the service rules of the Federal Ombudsman Secretariat were also made. Mohammad Salman Farooqui also formed several committees for reforming the system of government institutions which prepared comprehensive reports based on very useful and actionable recommendations. The federal ombudsman Syed Tahir Shehbaz, who came after him, increased the work further and not only the number of decisions exceeded one lakh, but there was also significant progress in the implementation of the recommendations of the reports of the committees. . The current federal ombudsman Ijaz Ahmad Qureshi has extensive experience in administrative matters, so after taking charge of his charge, the number of complaints reached 164 thousand 174 during the first year of 2022, of which 157,770 were decided, which is more than the year 2021. 49 The percentage is high and is the highest number of complaints received in a single year in the history of the Federal Ombudsman Secretariat. Due to the increasing tendency of the complainants towards this institution during the last six years, it was actually the new policies and measures of the Federal Ombudsman Ijaz Ahmed Qureshi that he took. 27 Immediately after taking the oath of federal ombudsman on December 2021, he stopped the implementation of the actions of the heads of 17 regional offices in addition to the head office in Islamabad. In this regard, the most important program was the launch of Informal Resolution of Disputes, under which different types of disputes of different faiths are resolved in a free conciliation manner with the consent of the believers in Jirga or Panchayat style. Resolved For example, the excess electricity bills of more than one lakh units of people in Sargodha, Bhalwal, Mandi Bahauuddin and other remote areas were refunded. Due to non-payment of hundred gas bills in Quetta, the gas company was charged Rs. Several new power transformers were installed in Kharan and lakhs of rupees were paid to the policy holders from the insurance companies.
In the same way, it was decided to organize open courts and the first open court was organized by the federal ombudsman in Mansehra, which added more to the scope of the federal ombudsman. Senior officers of the Regional Offices visited the remote areas and small towns of the country including Lasbela, Sibi, Khairpur, Pindi Bhattian, Bhakkar, Tanak, Leh and Fata to assist the local administration. Open Courts have been set up and are being set up in other areas as well, where anyone can come and explain their problem, which is solved on the spot by the officers of the relevant institutions present there.
Non-payment of pension to poor workers by EOBI, provision of preventive measures and medicines during dengue outbreak, traffic issues, Self-notification of relief measures for flood victims and many other communities (Suo-Moto Notice) Apart from this, an important step was taken that high-level inspection teams consisting of senior advisors were formed for those institutions against which there were a lot of complaints. Listen to complaints, issue instructions on the spot and meet with the management to issue actionable instructions to improve procedures and systems.
The Federal Ombudsman is also keen to provide justice to the people at their doorsteps. OCR for this purpose (Outreach Complaint Resolution)A pilot project was launched under the name of Federal Ombudsman, under which the officers of Federal Ombudsman go to remote towns and tehsil headquarters of the country to provide justice to common citizens close to their homes. Such complaints are decided within 45 days. This is such a revolutionary step that was appreciated all over the world. Under the OCR program, during 2022, the officers of the federal ombudsman personally went to the tehsil and district headquarters and redressed 10,097 complaints. Several initiatives were also taken from this secretariat to solve the problems of the pensioners as a result of which now the pension of the retired land owners is sent to their account and they can withdraw the money through ATM card or check whenever they want. Can be taken out. The Federal Ombudsman has also set up a Pension Committee which is always a hot-button process for solving the problems of the pensioners.
The federal ombudsman did not limit himself only to the decisions of the complaints, but also prepared 28 study reports from the eminent personalities of the relevant fields for the reform of the system of various institutions, in the light of which, among other departments, NADRA, Pakistan Post, Railways, etc. , the National Savings Institution, the problems of overseas Pakistanis, the pension problems of government employees and the reformation of the prison system and the provision of facilities to the prisoners were made recommendations and due to the strict implementation of these recommendations, many The problems have been solved and are being solved. By the federal ombudsman until now regarding the reform of the prison system 12 Quarterly reports have been submitted to the Supreme Court.
Thus, with the intervention of the Federal Ombudsman, thousands of people across the country are getting relief in relation to various types of issues, so it is important to mention some of the important decisions here. Checks worth more than one crore rupees were issued from Postal Life Insurance on the complaint of a passenger in Multan. Sent to Jacobabad Institute of Medical Science by SEPCO 11 More than million electricity bills were returned. In Khairpur by tower companies to villagers 19 An amount of Rs. The spelling of the Quaid-e-Azam's name in the hundred rupee note was corrected and the regional position of the pilgrimage was corrected. A widow in Bahawalpur whose show had been found dead during this period, from the department concerned 25 An amount of 60 thousand was given. Checks of Rs 1 crore were given to 28 policy holders of Postal Life Insurance in Sirgodha. Fesco(FESCO) 52 thousand of electricity from GAPCO(GEPCO) Bills of 44 thousand extra units were refunded. To the widow and daughter of a citizen of Karachi from the Postal Life Insurance Company 65 A check of lakhs of rupees was delivered. 25 from the Benazir Income Sport Program to hundreds of flood-affected complainants in Quetta. 25 Thousands of checks were handed over. The excess amount charged by K-Electric in electricity bills was written off by Nepra, benefiting consumers to the tune of crores of rupees. It is estimated that during the year 2022, there were total disputes worth more than three billion for which the complainants referred to the Federal Ombudsman.
The Federal Ombudsman has appointed a separate "Grievances Commissioner" to resolve the issues of more than 90 lakh overseas Pakistanis and "One-stop-shops" have been set up at all international airports in Pakistan. are where the officials of the overseas Pakistanis are present 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and resolve the complaints of the passengers on the spot. The "Overseas Pakistanis Grievances Commissioner" redressed 137,423 complaints of Overseas Pakistanis during the year 2022, compared to the year 2021. 133 Percentages add up. Similarly, in relation to the issues of children under the age of 18 years and the protection of their rights, the Federal Ombudsman has appointed the "Commissioner for Children" in the Secretariat due to the growing trend of violence and cybercrime against children. He is doing street child run's Hawa Leyse.
The main office of the Federal Ombudsman is in Islamabad, while for the convenience of the public, it is located across the country 17 Regional Offices Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, Multan, Faisalabad, Hyderabad, Kharan, Sukkur, Abbottabad, Gujranwala, Bahawalpur, Sargodha, Swat, Dera Ismail Khan, Khuzdar and Mirpur Khas. I am also working, apart from them, they have been recently (Janu B. Waziristan) And two new complaint centers have been set up in Sada District Karam to receive complaints. The procedure for filing a complaint in the office of the Federal Ombudsman is very simple. Any citizen through letter, email, mobile app or ombudsman helpline number 1055 Complaints can be filed by contacting or coming to the office, and complaints are also heard on phone, WhatsApp and Instagram, through which the complainants can join the hearing sitting at home, they don't even need to take the trouble of traveling. This saves the complainant time as well as capital.
Federal Ombudsman Radio Pakistan FM to create awareness among people about the institution 93 Also participated in the well-known current affairs program Kontakt from Faisalabad and provided information about the institution to the people.
