People urged to get redressal of their complaints thru ombudsman’s office

HYDERABAD: Federal Ombudsman Secretariat Regional Head Ambassador Dr Syed Rizwan Ahmed (Retd) said that people should file complaints against government departments and get due relief.

Addressing businessmen on a visit to the Hyderabad Chamber of Small Traders and Small Industry Secretariat, he said there are more than 600 departments, including FIA, Railways, NADRA, Passport office, HESCO, and Sui Gas against whom a legitimate complaint can be filed in the Federal Ombudsman Secretariat, except the cases which are pending in the court.

Federal and provincial ombudsman institutions have been created to check the abuses of businessmen and people by the government institutions, he said. He mentioned that since he has been made the regional head, his first priority is to resolve all complaints of traders and citizens on priority.

He said that the most important thing is that businessmen and people should file complaints, individually. The website www.mohtasib.gov.pk is 24/7 active for this purpose. Traders and citizens can easily file a complaint from their home. Such complaints are forwarded to the concerned department for resolution within 24 hours. If the complaint is authentic, it would be 100% redressed.

He said that the purpose of his visit today is to tell the traders about the jurisdiction and purpose of this institution. He also indicated to form a liaison committee for better communication between the Federal Ombudsman Secretariat and the Hyderabad Chamber on the request of the Chamber President.

Earlier, President Chamber Muhammad Farooq Shaikhani said that the violation of the rights of the people and businessmen has become a routine and there is no remedy for this. He said the establishment of federal and provincial ombudsman institutions is necessary to assist the affected people businessmen.

He pointed out that there is a lack of awareness about this institution, for which there is a need to conduct an awareness campaign, using social media platforms.

He said Hyderabad traders have been facing problems like over billing by HESCO, unannounced shutdown of gas by Sui Southern Gas Company and its pressure drop.

The government has created federal and provincial ombudsman institutions to resolve all these problems. Businessmen should submit their complaints against the excesses of federal institutions to these institutions so that they can get a relief.

On this occasion, Deputy Director of Federal Ombudsman Secretariat Qazi Nizam Naeem, Vice President Dr Ismail Farouk Nami, Akram Ansari, Daulat Ram Lohana, Saleemuddin Qureshi, Sikandar Ali Rajput, Kashif Sheikh, Aamir Shahab, Shahid kaimkhani, Hafiz Ahmed Hussain, Yaseen Khilji, Kishore Kumar Bhatia, Farhan Iqbal and Ayub Sheikh were also present.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023