LAHORE: Any citizen can now get certified copies of all the decisions made by the Punjab ombudsman, complaints lodged with its office and the replies submitted by various government departments.

A notification to the effect was issued by Punjab Ombudsman Javed Mahmood on Tuesday.

According to the notification, the decisions made by the ombudsman under The Punjab Ombudsman Act, were already being provided to the parties i.e. complainants and the relevant government departments.

“Following promulgation of the Punjab Transparency and Access to Information Act 2013, there is no justification to keep secret the decision made by the Punjab ombudsman and the complaints lodged with the same. The citizens got the lawful right of access to information of all the government bodies of the province,” it said.

Meanwhile, Javed Mahmood said in a statement that no citizen needed to come to Lahore to get a copy of the ombudsman’s decision or other relevant documents. Rather the citizens would be able to get a certified copy through a written request to the registrar or advisers to the ombudsman in their relevant districts. Directions had been issued to the registrar and the advisers in all districts in this regard, he said.

Published in Dawn, April 6th, 2016