Federal Ombudsman Ejaz Ahmad Qureshi has said that the year-end tally for complaints against the government departments in 2023 is likely to exceed 190,000. Addressing a press conference at the Ombudsman regional office here on Wednesday, he said that so far 183,000 complaints had been received, whereas 178,000 decided.
He said the complaints rose from 110,405 in 2021 and 164,174 in 2022 to the highest number of 183,000 and disposal also reached an all-time high of 178,000, while comparing the number of complaints in 2023. He mentioned that complaints worth Rs 4.2 billion were addressed in 2023 so far, as against Rs 3 billion of last year. He said that the phenomenal increase in the number of complaints represent the trust of people in the Ombudsman institution for redressing their problems, while appreciating the performance of the officers of the Ombudsman institution in this regard. The federal ombudsman said that the role of the media was crucial in raising awareness among people about the Ombudsman institution. He stressed the media to cooperate in disseminating the message of ombudsman to masses so that more and more poor people could approach the institution for speedy and free relief. He said that the federal ombudsman was often referred to as the court of the poor, which redressed complaints of the poor and people of far-flung areas. He said that anyone could approach the Ombudsmans office through an application on a plain paper, and immediate action was taken on it, adding that most of complaints were decided in 60 days. He said that the latest technology was being used for speedy redress of complaints and the office also heard complaints on Skype, Imo and Whatsapp. He said that the complainants could attend the hearing while sitting in the comfort of their homes. He said that an Informal Resolution of Disputes (IRD) project was initiated in April last year to informally conciliate and settle disputes between the two parties with their mutual consent. So far, 2,951 cases have been disposed of while 473 cases were in process. He further said that it was an honour for Pakistan to become president of the Asian Ombudsman Association in a meeting of the general assembly, held on September 11. The Asian Ombudsman Association is a major non-political, independent and professional body of international character representing more than two thirds of the world population. Its current membership is 46 ombudsman institutions from the Asian region, he added.
