LAHORE: The Office of Punjab Ombudsman has mediated to provide a cumulative legal relief of over Rs58 million to complainants in response to 36 applications submitted to the regional offices against provincial government departments for the resolution of their issues.
In a statement released Wednesday, a spokesman for the agency said the action taken by the office helped one Shamim Akhtar from Faisalabad to receive the long-awaited pension arrears of her late husband worth Rs4.1 million from the health department after a period of 13 years.
Similarly, it also mediated to ensure that the irrigation department pays Rs0.3 million to Khanewal’s Nishad Akhtar as financial aid for her late husband. She received this amount after 11 years.
The spokesman said the heirs of Dr Bashir Ahmad, a former principal Medical Officer (PMO) of Services Hospital in Lahore, have been paid Rs8 million rupees under the so-called Shuhada package while Rs0.2 million have been given to two other plaintiffs of Faisalabad as the price for items supplied to DHQ hospital Toba Tek Singh.
The spokesman said several applicants from Lahore, Faisalabad, Sahiwal, Muzaffargarh, Attock, Nankana Sahib, Gujranwala, Lodhran, Jhang and Bahawalnagar districts have received a collective relief of Rs13 million in their family pension cases.
As a result of the separate action taken by the ombudsman office, overall relief of Rs1.74 million has been provided to the applicants of different cities in their cases of non-payment of the farewell grant, GP and welfare funds, scholarships and group insurance amounts, the spokesman added.
Meanwhile, individuals belonging to Gujrat, Faisalabad, Sahiwal and Rahim Yar Khan have also been given over Rs7.7 million as pending dues of leave encashment, financial aid and employment dues after the involvement of the ombudsman office.
The spokesman reported that the livestock, buildings departments, highway division and district accounts office of different districts have also paid the pending amounts worth Rs2.11 million to complainants along with the provision of relief of Rs0.5 million to the Arifwala-based subject specialist.
Similarly, in response to the own-motion notice of the Ombudsman retired Maj. Azam Suleman Khan, municipal committee Kot Addu has informed that Rs14 million have been paid to the employees as salaries and another amount of Rs4.7 million is given to the pensioners, said the spokesman.
