For quicker justice: Federal ombudsman seeks funds to increase access

Says the department wants to open offices even in smaller districts.

HYDERABAD: The federal ombudsman, Salman Farooqi, has said that streamlining the system to make it more accessible to the common people requires additional funds.

At a press conference in Hyderabad on Wednesday, Farooqi expressed hope that he will get the funds by the next financial year. "We want to give access to the ombudsman office even in the smaller districts. So far, only regional offices are working in Hyderabad, Sukkur and Larkana districts," he said.



According to him, he has also floated a proposal to the provincial setup suggesting that the ombudsmen under both the federal and provincial ombudsmen should hold hearings on the same day in a particular district of Sindh. Both the offices will hear cases of their respective jurisdictions but their transport and other expenses will be shared by the two governments, he added.

He said that since he assumed office last year, more than 130,000 cases have been resolved. Farooqi claimed that before him, only around 30,000 cases per year was the average for the last three decades. "Our success has been that only around 1,500 out of 100,000 solved cases went in appeal to the President office."

The ombudsman revealed that they were also considering the provision of video conferencing facility to hear cases from districts where ombudsman offices do not exist.



The federal ombudsman mostly deals with complaints of citizens and government servants against the federal government's departments and its officials.

Farooqi said that most of the cases received by his office pertain to the power and gas distribution companies, passport offices, NADRA, post office, State Life Insurance Company, EOBI and other government departments.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 13^th, 2014.