TI Pakistan conducting 'Report Card Study' on FTO office performance

Transparency International Pakistan is conducting Citizen Feedback Survey 'Report Card Study' on the working of the office of Federal Tax Ombudsman. The Chairman of Transparency International Pakistan, Syed Adil Gilani told Business Recorder here on Monday that the work is already on, and the comprehensive study would be submitted to the FTO in March, for further action.
FTO Dr Shoaib Suddle a few months ago had expressed the desire that TI Pakistan should carry out a third-party audit to independently analyse the performance of the office of Federal Tax Ombudsman. This is for the first time in Pakistan that an independent study of any public sector department is being conducted to judge the performance of an organisation, on the department's own request. The purpose of study is to further improve the quality of service of the office of the FTO, as also the taxpayer's confidence in this highly useful institution.
The Federal Tax Ombudsman's office was established by the Government of Pakistan in the year 2000 to address grievances of taxpayers. Dr Shoaib Suddle, soon after his appointment as Federal Tax Ombudsman, initiated a range of measures to ensure that the complaints are handled properly and promptly at the FTO office. He always wanted to get independent feedback from the receiving end which is always critical for improvement of service delivery.
As the issue was linked with good governance, the TI Pakistan agreed to the FTO's request. TI Pakistan has also helped the Government of Pakistan and public sector organisations in saving billions of rupees by identifying serious maladministration and violation of rules in different projects.
Under the Report Card Study, questionnaires have been sent to trade bodies throughout Pakistan in addition to the complainants who approached the office of Federal Tax Ombudsman during the last two years. TI Pakistan, which has formulated the questionnaire, is conducting the study on the performance of the office of Federal Tax Ombudsman by an independent professional research firm.
The ides of Citizen Feedback Survey, "Report Card Study" have been replicated in many parts of the world due to its success. While spadework on the project, spread over past several months, has been completed, the actual research work has begun and it is expected to be completed in three months' time.
Needless to mention, in September last year US Agency for International Development (USAID) and TI Pakistan had signed a co-operative agreement in Islamabad for the "Anti-Fraud Hotline" project. The objective of the project is to ensure transparency and prevention of corruption in the utilisation of grant to be provided to Pakistan by USAID, including the $7.5 billion under the Kerry Lugar bill. Besides this, TI Pakistan is also monitoring all procurements of the World Bank funded $175 million, five-year irrigation project: Sindh Water Sector Improvement Phase I (SIDA) for Sindh Government as observer since 2008.
Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations is the management consultant of the project, appointed by the World Bank. Ylli Dedja of FAO in a message received on December 1 last year had asked the Chairman of Transparency International Pakistan, Syed Adil Gilani to appoint his representative to attend evaluation committee meeting to be held on December 4 to interview short-listed candidates for the position of Project Director and some other staff of SIDA.
The role of TI Pakistan as prescribed in the World Bank loan agreement is to reinforce transparency in the procurement process by participating as an observer in all bid proposals opening, and all evaluation committee meetings. An MoU had also been signed between the Government of Sindh and TI Pakistan in this regard.
TI Pakistan aims for rule of law and zero tolerance of corruption. Its work seeks to promote greater respect for the laws of Pakistan, conveying in its reports public views in the name of citizen. TI Pakistan work does not seek to replace public institutions' role in investigating, judging or punishing those who are later proven to be corrupt. Rather TI Pakistan supports robust public institutions, which could redress governance gaps.