ISLAMABAD: Federal Ombudsman Ejaz Ahmad Qureshi has said maladministration and bad governance are two sides of the same coin and both breed in an environment of favouritism, discrimination and corruption.

Speaking at a press conference to mark the 40th anniversary of the ombudsman institution on Tuesday, Mr Qureshi said resolving the issue of maladministration was essential to ensure sanctity of human rights and achieve ultimate goals of good governance and rule of law.

The office of the Federal Ombudsman was established on Jan 24, 1983 with the explicit objective to diagnose, investigate, redress and rectify injustice done to a person through maladministration by government agencies.

Mr Qureshi said the ombudsman institutions, around the world, acted in support of supreme judiciary and contribute to making dispensation of justice more accessible and inexpensive.

It is fundamentally the poor man’s court. The complainants are not required to hire the services of a lawyer nor have to face lengthy legal processes as the cases are disposed of within the prescribed limit of 60 days.

Reviewing the performance of the Wafaqi Mohtasib’s institution during the last 40 years, Mr Qureshi said more than 1.9 million households have benefited from the services of this office since its inception.

It is the most cost-effective way of providing relief to the common man.

He said periodic inspections of different agencies such as Passport Office, Islamabad International Airport, Nadra, Polyclinic, Pims, CDA Facilitation Centre, Railway Stations and Utility Stores in different cities by a team of his senior officers has helped improve their service delivery.

Referring to the legal framework which governs the operations of the Wafaqi Mohtasib’s institution, he added that the efficiency and efficacy of its operations was directly related to the enabling statutory provisions. These include, powers to undertake any investigation of his own motion into any allegation on the part of any agency, and stay operation of the impugned order/decision for a period not exceeding 60 days.

Likewise, the Ombudsman enjoys same powers mutatis mutandis as the Supreme Court to punish for contempt.

Mr Qureshi stated that while focusing on resolving individual complaints, equal emphasis is placed on ascertaining the root causes of corrupt practices and injustice.

Meanwhile, recognising the significance of the role of ombudsman institution and its successful journey of four decades in providing speedy and inexpensive relief to the common man, Pakistan Post has issued a Commemorative Postage Stamp of Rs20 on this occasion. Its launching was also held at the same time in the Ombudsman Secretariat. The postage stamps are available in all post offices in the country.

Published in Dawn, January 25th, 2023