ISLAMABAD, Dec 7: The institution of ombudsman will be expanded to district level under the devolution plan, to provide the citizens an easy forum to redress their grievances against government officials.

The government has confirmed to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) that it had planned to establish an ombudsman office at the district level under its good governance plan. The ADB has committed US$350 million for judicial, administrative and police reforms in the country whose first tranche of US$100 million was expected to be released this month.

The government believes that the ombudsman system established at the federal level and Punjab, Sindh, and Balochistan had provided relief to the people, but its full potential had yet to achieved.

Under the Access to Justice Programme (AJP) the current ombudsman system would be enhanced to provide for greater statutory independence for the ombudsman officials as well as the ability to conduct thorough investigations.

Under the plan, the provincial laws would be reviewed and reformed to ensure political independence of the ombudsman and provide adequate resources for the task at hand. The officers of the ombudsman would be provided statutory protections in the course of their investigations.

The government is also planning to reorient the office of ombudsman from one of a court to one that looks at the system through which citizens can obtain redress and grievances, and disputes arising in their relation with the administration.

As an adjudicator the ombudsman would, through individual grievances, learn of the systemic problems and use these to make recommendations for improvement.

It would be incumbent upon the ombudsman to formulate recommendations on the basis of his experiences which could be used for reforming society.

The government had also agreed to establish tribunals for holding government and civil servants liable for tortuous acts.

It is felt that despite constitutional provisions to hold civil servants liable to torts, committed by them against the public in special tribunals, previous governments had not established.

To hold the officials responsible, the protection given to them through different definitions of “good faith” would be eliminated.