Ombudsman Secretariat receives 200,000 complaints in 10 months

ABBOTTABAD: Federal Ombudsman Ejaz Ahmed Qureshi has said that resolving problems of the people is the top most priority of his office which was termed a poor men’s Court.

Talking to media at the regional office of the Federal Ombudsman Secretariat here on Wednesday, he said a number of complaints against 180 federal departments were increasing and that showed the confidence of the general public in his office.

He said the total number of complaints received were 164,000 last year the number stood at 200,000 whereas in 10 months of this year. Accompanied by Regional Advisor Abdul Ghafoor Baig, Deputy Advisor Khalid Saeed and Assistant Advisor Adnan Khan, Ejaz Ahmed Qureshi said the rate of disposal of the complaints was 100 per cent and these were being decided in 60 days. He said relief was granted to complainants free of any cost and they were not required to wait too long for the decisions.

The federal ombudsman urged the media to raise awareness among the general public to avail this opportunity to get their issues resolved, especially relating to electricity, Sui Gas, Nadra and other federal departments by simply filing an application on their own without hiring any lawyer.

Ejaz Qureshi, who has served in the past as chief secretary of KP and Sindh, said the prompt and efficient disposal of complaints was of critical importance to the dispensation of justice.He said besides the head office in Islamabad, 18 regional offices in different parts of the country were performing their statutory functions.

Later, the federal ombudsman attended a briefing session by divisional heads of different government departments and asked them to provide relief in issues especially in power, gas, pension and others.