TO redress the concerns of the general public regarding official functioning, the office of Wafaqi Mohtasib (Ombudsman) was established in the early 1980s, with focus on investigating and redressing issues cropping up owing to maladministration. Regrettably, decades later, the office has been at odds with what its primary function was supposed to be.

I have lodged a number of complaints with various ombudsmen about my own issues as well as about issues pertaining to the protection of the rights of others. By the looks of it, there have been thousands, if not millions, of cases pending in the offices of various federal and provincial such offices. This is lethargy at its worst.

All ombudsman offices have fallen into the trap of the very red-tape that they were supposed to keep an eye on with the intention to eradicate it. They favour the mighty ones, and throw the complaints filed by the common man into the trash-bins.

For instance, in an application against the Sindh Revenue Board, after a considerable delay, I was ordered to approach the Commissioner of Appeals, who, in turn, responded that he could not hear the case since he had not been issued any order.

In another case concerning the Mukhtiarkar office of the Garden sub-division, I was directed to submit an authority letter from all the family members as I had applied in a case involving the name of my mother. The application was immediately turned down on that very technicality.

In yet another case, the office of the Federal Ombudsman rejected my petition filed against the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) for a change in the name of the consumer. The office did it on the pretext that I could not fulfill the requirements of the SSGC. Ironically, this issue had never come under discussion during the five hearings that the case was subjected to.

I am exhausted and disappointed to the extent that I believe that I am wasting my time and energy. Lodging complaints with these toothless entities is nothing but a waste of time. They are part of the problem; the very problem that they were supposed to resolve. The office expenditure as well as the salaries of ombudsmen and their staff are like throwing national resources down the drain.

The relevant authorities need to wake up and make these entities accountable, people-friendly and professional. Or, maybe they should think about having an office of a Super Ombudsman where complaints related to the various ombudsman offices might be filed. Practically speaking, these offices need to be shut down. This will surely come handy in these times of economic crisis.

F.A. Fareed
Karachi

Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2023