• Asks Heads of Federal Agencies to Ensure Speedy Redressal of Public Complaints.
• More than 223,000 Complaints Redressed during 2024
• Renews Commitment to Expand Outreach and Accessibility of the Institution.

Sahiwal:  10 April, 2025 – The Wafaqi Mohtasib (Federal Ombudsman), Mr. Ejaz Ahmad Qureshi has asked the heads of the Federal Agencies to ensure speedy resolution of public complaints and provide prompt relief to the people. He was inaugurating the institution’s Regional Office at Sahiwal here today.

The Federal Ombudsman said that there is a continuous increase in the receipt of complaints every year, which reached a peak during the outgoing year 2024.Mr. Qureshi reiterated commitment to enhancing the outreach and accessibility of the institution and stated that new offices have been established at Muzaffarabad (AJ&K), Gilgit Baltistan and Mirpur Khas (Sindh). “Now with the opening of a Regional Office at Sahiwal, it has presence in 25 cities of the country”, adding that more regional offices are expected to be opened later this year.

The Federal Ombudsman further observed that the fundamental purpose of opening the new offices is to dispense administrative justice closer to the doorsteps of the people. “Our focus remains on facilitating the provision of free and expeditious redressal of grievances to the people specially those belonging to the remote areas to access our services”, said the Ombudsman. The inaugural ceremony of the Regional Office Sahiwal was attended by a large number of senior officials belonging to the Federal Agencies besides members of the civil society and the media. Speaking on the occasion, he said that during the outgoing year 2024, as many as 226,372 complaints were received, out of which 223,171 have been disposed of, indicating an increase of 17% and 16% in the receipt and disposal of complaints respectively.

He further added that while an impressive 93.21% implementation rate was achieved during the last year, 126 Khuli Katcheries in addition to 171 Outreach Complaint Resolution (OCR) visits were undertaken across the country. Additionally, 79 Inspection Visits were also carried out to the Federal Government agencies and departments generating large number of complaints in order to improve their service delivery, stated the Mohtasib.

“The Wafaqi Mohtasib Office is in essence a poor man’s court, which is committed to speedy resolution of the complaints, particularly those belonging to the vulnerable segments of the society”, he observed. Later, he also held a meeting with the Heads of the Federal agencies and called upon them to spare no efforts for speedy redressal of public complaints. He also spoke informally with the Press and Media and highlight edvarious initiatives launched by his office to ensure prompt resolution of public complaints. These included, Informal Resolution of Disputes (IRD) initiative as well as the Khuli Katcheries, which were conducted mostly at remote areas of the country.

He said that two dedicated offices of Grievance Commissioner for the Overseas Pakistanis and for the Children are functioning in the Wafaqi Mohtasib Secretariat. The Grievance Commissioner for Overseas Pakistanis acted upon 151,897 complaints received in his office. The Wafaqi Mohtasib also lauded the role of press and media, which he termed as most instrumental in raising public awareness about the existence of this forum, urging the people to utilize its services for speedy resolution of their grievances.