The Federal Ombudsman would shortly appoint a grievance commissioner to address the burgeoning complaints of millions of overseas Pakistanis against relevant government organisations, including the passport office, NADRA and concerned embassies, said acting Wafaqi Mohtasib Salman Faruqui on Sunday.
In an interview, he said former provincial chief secretary Ijaz Qureshi has already been appointed as grievance commissioner in the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to help resolve complaints of the residents of Islamabad against the civic agency dealing with land, public and other utility services.
He said a former foreign secretary has been selected for the slot of grievance commissioner to deal with overseas Pakistanis’ complaints.
“The appointment of grievance commissioners is being tried for the first time in the country’s history,” Faruqui said.
Likewise, a grade-22 officer would be assigned the task to deal with complaints against gas and power companies. Earlier, a low grade official used to handle these cases which undermined ombudsman dignity, he said.
He said the National Assembly has unanimously approved ‘Ombudsmen Institutional Reforms Bill 2013’ and once it is signed into law by the president after Senate’s approval, the functioning of the ombudsman’s office would commence.
