The governor, CM and provincial ombudsmen inserted their own coloured photographs in the public service advertisement
KARACHI: This refers to your quarter page advertisement, placed in all national newspapers on March 20, 2015, claiming, “We are here for your help … to provide Administrative Justice”. Here is a citizen’s complaint, a test case, to determine if you would actually provide the promised “administrative justice” or are simply misusing government funds. Three government officials, i.e., the Sindh governor, the Sindh chief minister and the provincial ombudsman jointly colluded to place a newspaper advertisement, ostensibly to convey a public interest message. They, however, also inserted their own coloured photographs in the advertisement, solely for the purpose of personal publicity and self-projection.
It is a fact that the advertisement was paid entirely from the taxpayers’ money and the three gentlemen did not contribute a single penny towards this self-aggrandising advertisement. This makes it a blatant case of gross administrative malpractice and misappropriation of taxpayers’ money. You are requested to investigate this serious misuse of state resources for petty personal publicity and take the following actions: 1) the three officials be made to realise their unbecoming and unethical act and asked to refund the entire amount, which should preferably be deducted from their salaries; 2) a fresh advertisement (minus any photographs) be placed in newspapers to clarify that the taxpayers’ money is a trust of the people and will never again be spent for advertisements carrying photographs of politicians and government officials. In order to regain the trust of the people, this advertisement should publicly state that the money spent on the original advertisement has been paid back by the three officials.
Naeem Sadiq
Published in The Express Tribune, March 24th, 2015.
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