KARACHI, May 5: The Sindh Ombudsman, Yusuf Jamal, on Friday presented the Annual Report 2005 to Sindh Governor Ishratul Ibad at Governor House.

According to the report, the number of individual complaints received during the year stood at 8,846 as compared to 7,813 in 2004. The report says that as directed by the governor, emphasis was being laid on increasing the outreach of the ombudsman’s institution by opening more field offices. While seven regional and one sub-regional offices already functioning, three more were in the pipeline.

The ombudsman’s offices in the interior are located at Hyderabad, Sukkur, Larkana, Mirpurkhas, Nawabshah and Naushehro Feroze while one regional office is functioning in Karachi Central. Three newly planned offices will be opened in Badin and Karachi East.

The ombudsman in his report highlighted the efforts being made to make access to administrative justice easier by reducing the turn-around time and achieving internet connectivity in the network.

On the occasion, the governor emphasized fostering the principles of good governance by the ombudsman through greater intervention where necessary.

He called for continued and effective pursual of the ombudsman’s statutory charter to curb mal-administration.

The report stresses that “access to justice” is an inescapable component of the rule of law without which the concept of good governance is a pipedream.—APP