‘All govt departments answerable to public’

K-P ombudsman warns dept heads of dire consequences in case of laxity.

MANSEHRA:

All government departments, even those created for the purpose of accountability, are answerable to the general public as they are being run on people’s taxes, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Ombudsman Badshah Gul Wazir said on Thursday.

Speaking to members of the civil society and media personnel, Wazir, in a stern and authoritative tone, warned the heads of all government departments to respond “fairly and promptly” to the public complaints or else legal action would be taken against them. He further warned that in case of laxity, officials could also face negative entries in their annual confidential reports and even forfeiture of their salary and assets.

“The purpose of public departments is to facilitate people and provide them relief rather than exposing them to hardships,” said Wazir. He said that even anti-corruption departments created for the purpose of accountability - such as the National Accountability Bureau, Federal Investigation Agency, and public account committees - are answerable to the general public as they are run on people’s taxes. “Good governance is imperative in a democratic society and is only possible through accountability,” he added.

The ombudsman said that his office has so far disposed of 532 complaints against different government departments from January 2011 to January 2012 and provided relief to the complainants. He said that during the current year, his office received 600 complaints, of which a majority were addressed within three months. He added that in some cases extensive investigation had to be carried out.

Wazir urged the general public to file complaints on plain paper with a copy of their computerised national identity cards along with an undertaking on a stamped paper. He assured that these complaints would be sent to the department concerned and timely resolved if found to be genuine.

He announced that regional offices of ombudsmen will also be established in Abbottabad and Dera Ismail Khan soon.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 28^th, 2012.