admin 
MANSEHRA, (MANEND NEWS): Federal Ombudsman Ejaz Ahmad Quraishi Tuesday said that pilot projects were being launched for free and timely resolution of complaints against government departments while regional offices of the Federal Ombudsman will be established in Swat and newly merged tribal districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at earliest.
He expressed these views while responding to the issues and questions raised by the people in an open court held at District Council Hall Mansehra.
Qureshi further said that a series of open courts had been started in every nook and corner of the country for the immediate resolution of the complaints on spot as residents of remote areas could not bear the travel expense to reach Islamabad.
Besides addressing complaints in open courts, he said, Federal Ombudsman had have four provincial headquarters, and fifteen regional offices functioning in the major cities of Pakistan where the teams were working round the clock to redress the grievances and complaints of people against the federal agencies.
Ejaz Ahmed Qureshi said that special offices of the Federal Ombudsman were being set up in Swat and erstwhile FATA very soon to provide people with justice at their doorsteps. On the occasion, he also met the heads of federal government agencies including PESCO, Sui Gas, and Nadra, while senior officers of the Federal Ombudsman Abbottabad District Office and District Administration were also present on the occasion.
The Federal Ombudsman said that in Hazara, four advisers and investigation officers were diligently administering justice to the people at the Federal Ombudsman’s Regional Office. “In light of the public complaints, our officers also make recommendations and suggestions for rectifying flaws in the system and procedures of government departments while these reports are forwarded to the heads of the concerned agencies for the durable solutions of the issues.” Qureshi also informed about the launch of a pilot project “Informal Resolution of Disputes (IRD)” to address issues that do not fall within the purview of Federal Ombudsman. Under this program, advisers will seek to resolve disputes amicably while the complainant will not be required to hire professional legal services or to pay any charges to anyone for the redressal of their complaint, he added.
He said the federal ombudsman had been deciding every complaint within 60 days and it had concluded 66,000 complaints in 2021. Most of the complaints in open courts were related to National Highway Authority (NHA), Karakoram High (KKH), Wapda, NADRA, Passport Office, and Health Department.
Many of the complainants were registered against the dilapidated condition of Karakoram Highway and increased number of toll plazas in Hazara while a load of complainants were received against Wapda overbilling, prolonged loadshedding, bills without noting meter reading, wrong distribution of bills, and advancing billing.