The President of Pakistan has appointed his Secretary General Mr Salman Farooqi as Wafaqi Mohtasib (Ombudsman). There was no Wafaqi Mohtasib in Pakistan for the last more than two years, leading to a pendency of 75,000 grievances/complaints.
Mr Salman Farooqi is the longest serving bureaucrat in the country who has held strategic positions in the government. Hopefully, Mr Farooqi will evolve a mechanism to clear the pendency that has piled up during the last two years.
The new Ombudsman will need a clean, competent and committed team to complete his mission. My advice is that Mr Farooqi should stay there for four years as there is no provision in the relevant law for conditional appointment of Wafaqi Mohtasib for two months.
ASGHAR MAHMOOD
Islamabad