Islamabad - President Dr Arif Alvi has said that public campaign should be launched to create awareness among masses regarding the filing of complaints to the Wafaqi Mohtasib.

The President said this while talking to Syed Tahir Shahbaz, the Federal Ombudsman who called on him Wednesday.

The President directed to hold quarterly seminars around the country for awareness among general public for approaching the Wafaqi Mohtasib for resolution of their grievances.

He also agreed to chair a joint seminar of Federal & Provincial Ombudsmen to sensitize the people about the role of these offices that resolve the complaints of general public at their doorsteps.

The President also advised to take on board PTA and PEMRA for telecasting the awareness campaign in resolving the public complaints by Wafaqi Mohtasib.

The President also directed that SNGPL and Electric Companies (DISCOs) should print messages from Wafaqi Mohtasib for approaching it if they are unable to solve their complaints.

The President also directed to launch a mobile App to facilitate the general public in accessing the services offered by the Wafaqi Mohtasib.

During the meeting, Syed Tahir Shahbaz, the Federal Ombudsman, briefed the Honourable President about the performance of Wafaqi Mohtasib Secretariat during the year.

He informed that his office had so far disposed of 68,000 complaints, of which 92 per cent had already been implemented. This ratio was likely to further improve.

He also informed the President about different special studies undertaken by his office on the direction of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

In collaboration with UNICEF, Federal Ombudsman Office has also carried out a Need Assessment Survey of different facilities in six jails located in all the provinces of Pakistan, he said.

The President appreciated the efforts made by the Wafaqi Mohtasib and directed that philanthropists should also be urged to contribute towards the welfare of prisoners, especially juveniles.

The Federal Ombudsman also informed an Integrated Complaint Management System had also been launched for twenty federal agencies which had large number of pending complaints.

This allowed the Wafaqi Mohtasib Secretariat to transfer to his portal all such complaints which had not been resolved by these agencies within 30 days.

In future, more agencies would be added to the integrated system to provide speedy relief to the public.