Upholding ombudsman’s decision: Alvi directs NHA to appoint employee’s widow

ISLAMABAD: Upholding the decision of federal ombudsman ordering National Highway Authority to provide a job to the widow of its employee, President Dr Arif Alvi has directed the authority to comply the order within 30 days.

Expressing displeasure, the president noted the widow, a mother of five minor children, was denied of employment on the flimsy ground that she had applied for the job after the lapse of stipulated time of one year.

The President observed though the widow applied after the passage of more than two years and eight months following her husband's death, she produced an office memorandum of the Establishment Division during the hearing.

He added the authority, prima facie, has overlooked the important fact and directed it to process her appointment. It is pertinent to mention that the widow Ishrat Bibi had applied for a job with supporting documents required by the NHA after the death of her spouse, but she was denied the employment on the pretext that she applied for the job after the lapse of one year stipulated time. Feeling aggrieved, she approached the federal ombudsman who ruled in her favour.

Instead of implementing the decision, the highway authority filed a representation with the President. President Alvi ordered the NHA to appoint her under the prime minister’s assistance package with immediate effect and to report compliance to the federal ombudsman within 30 days.