Anyone who has had firsthand interaction with this office would appeal to the government
ISLAMABAD: Recent media reports about discontinuing or changing the role of the federal ombudsman are both surprising as well as disappointing, as it involves playing around with an institution that is successfully delivering according to its prescribed mandate. Pakistan was the first country in Asia to establish the office of ombudsman in 1983 to redress public grievances against public institutions, agencies and ministries.
Over the decades, the institution has performed extremely well and won acclamation. Even the former chief justice of Supreme Court went on record to commend the performance of the institution in delivering fast and free justice to the poor and old. International recognition can be assessed by the fact that the secretariat of the Asian Ombudsmen Association is in Islamabad, and the Pakistan ombudsman is its current elected chairman. The most satisfying about this noble institution remains the prayers they receive from hundreds of grieved complainants every day, all over the country and overseas.
Pursuing the challenging milestone of redressing 100,000 complaints every year, the institution may appear to have gone beyond its purview by reviewing the maladministration of some provincial agencies on the orders of the Supreme Court. This intrusion into the sacrosanct domain may have upset some over-possessive, sensitive minds. However, such isolated studies on otherwise important issues of public interest should not be made a cause to destroy a well-established, popular institution.
Anyone who has had firsthand interaction with this office would appeal to the government to undertake a deliberate review of its decision and let the much needed ‘court of the poor’ continue to redress the public grievances.
Haroon Sikandar Pasha
Published in The Express Tribune, January 27th, 2017.
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