Issue and receipt: Ombudsman angry at secy’s non-response

Mahmood had asked secy to shift ombudsman office ACs to hospitals.

LAHORE:

Ombudsman Javed Mahmood has expressed displeasure that the health secretary has yet to even read his letter offering to shift all air-conditioners in ombudsman offices to hospital general wards.

“The ombudsman has taken exception to the lethargic response of the health secretary to a very important policy letter sent on July 17,” reads a press release from Mahmood’s office.

“Responding to the national cause of energy conservation as a conscientious Pakistani and in line with the appeals of the prime minister, it was decided that the air-conditioners in four offices of the ombudsman at Lahore, Multan, Sargodha and Rawalpindi would be closed and offered to the Health Department for installing at general wards of government hospitals,” reads the handout.



The ombudsman has written to the secretary again, expressing displeasure that the earlier letter sent on July 17 had not even been seen by the secretary yet. Mahmood asked the secretary to personally look into the issue and receipt system at the Health Department so that important correspondence should come to his notice without delay.

In the July 17 letter, the ombudsman had said that the air-conditioners should be moved to the general wards at government hospitals and not to administrative offices. “The government has introduced an open door policy so there is no need to use ACs in the offices. Keeping doors open while having ACs on is simply a waste of energy,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 26^th, 2013.