LAHORE: The office of the Punjab ombudsman received 11,636 complaints from across the province, including 7,647 general and 109 involving children, in the five months of 2022 and it has been working expeditiously to resolve public problems pertaining to provincial government departments.
This was announced in a series of meetings held under the chair of Ombudsman retired Maj. Azam Suleman Khan at his office to review the performance of advisors and consultants of 36 districts in the province.
The performance of the district paraphernalia of the ombudsman office was reviewed in detail regarding timely disposal of public complaints, protection of the rights of the children and the solution of problems of expatriate Pakistanis.
Khan directed to resolve public complaints within 45 days for timely relief to the citizens, adding the complaints of Pakistan nationals living abroad relating to provincial government departments should also be timely resolved while maintaining a close liaison with the Overseas Pakistanis Commission, Punjab.
The ombudsman office has deputed a focal person for overseas Pakistanis along with setting up the office of the chief provincial commissioner for children to protect the rights of the children and to save them from abuse, he mentioned.
Similarly, the ombudsman remarked that departmental helpline 1050 was working 24/7 to guide and facilitate the complainants. Alongside, the ombudsman office has also launched the Ombudsman Punjab Management Information System (OPMIS), a well-designed interactive and knowledge-enhanced enterprise resource planning mobile application for the general public to register complaints and track the status of their complaints, he added.
He also directed that steps should be taken for raising public awareness about the presence of this vital platform as this office was enabling the protection of public rights at the grassroots. Along with the retrieval of state lands, the market value of recovered lands should also be mentioned in reports submitted to the head office, he further said.
The meeting was told that regional office buildings were being constructed in Dera Ghazi Khan, Muzaffargarh, Mianwali, Jhang, and Attock while more office buildings would be constructed in the next financial year in other districts to strengthen the district paraphernalia.
Earlier, advisors and consultants appraised the ombudsman about their performance.
