Transparency and responsiveness has a central place in public administration: Salman Faruqui

Lahore: President Asian Ombudsman Association and Federal Ombudsman M. Salman Faruqui said transparency and responsiveness had a central place in public administration especially in a democratic dispensation.

“In the present era, any government which lacks transparency and responsiveness can hardly escape the watchful eye of the media and organization,” he said while addressing the participants of an international conference in Japan’s capital Tokyo. Consequently, he said “These have to be the cardinal features and operations of an Ombudsman in situation,” ..

The Federal Ombudsman said in Pakistan, the Right to Information Act empowered the citizens to seek full disclosure, adding that there were a few exemptions largely for reasons of national security. “Federal Ombudsman is the appellate and final authority under this law,” he added.

Faruqui apprised the audience that the orders and decisions of the Ombudsman in Pakistan were fully implemented by all agencies across the board. He informed that under the law, every complaint must be decided within 45 days.

Quoting a survey held under the World Bank, Faruqui stated that the bank took sample of 3,000 complaints countrywide which were decided within 60 days or less and more than 90 percent of complaints rated their experience as good or very good.

Talking about the enhancement of responsiveness in public administration, the Federal Ombudsman said that the institution took several steps including establishment of fully functional regional offices of Federal Ombudsman Secretariat in Pakistan major cities to quickly mediate with local government agencies. About the appointment commissioners, he said “Grievance Commissioners are dealing with passport, national identity cards, visa, immigration, overseas employment and airlines etc. to provide instant relief to the complainants.”

He said that National and Provincial Commissioners for Children had also been appointed for ameliorating the plight of children which was highly appreciated by the United Nations and other agencies.
The Federal Ombudsman discussed Pakistan’s other major achievements including in-depth study of administration of prisons for introducing reforms. The study was aimed at proposing good administration standards for police stations and appointment of focal persons in all Pakistani missions abroad to redress complaints of the overseas Pakistanis, he added.

Earlier, Minister for International Affairs and Communication Japan Sanae Takaichi had delivered the welcome address.

Among others, adv. John Walters, Namibia Ombudsman and President International Ombudsman Institute(IOI), Dr Gunter Krauter Member of Austrian Ombudsman Board and Secretary General IOI, Kam Shing So Deputy Ombudsman Hong Kong and Yutaka Arai Ombudsman of Japan, Director General Administrative Evaluation Bureau, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication also addressed the conference.