Decades old case resolved on Ombudsman’s order

LAHORE: Ombudsman Punjab Maj (retd) Azam Suleman Khan helped an elderly woman of Township Lahore, namely Wallait Shamim, to resolve her 26-year-old issue relating to Lahore Development Authority.

LDA, after the involvement of the ombudsman office, has transferred ownership of her late husband's residential plot in her name and issued a transfer letter as well. A spokesperson of Ombudsman Punjab Office disclosed this in a statement issued on Monday.

The spokesperson said that in another case, the director Local Govt and Community Development Department in Gujranwala has imposed a major penalty of recovery of emoluments/financial benefits after a departmental enquiry against the former secretary of union council Kharian in Gujrat district for using a fake diploma to get a government job. This action was taken on orders of the ombudsman Punjab over a citizen’s complaint.

In another development, the spokesman explained that the district education authority Mianwali has imposed a cumulative fine of Rs six lakh to two private educational institutions for sending matric admissions of their secondary level students to Punjab Board of Technical Education, Lahore through a third private educational institution and administering admissions of the students without registration. This action was taken on a complaint of one M Yousaf Khan of Mianwali, the spokesman added.

Meanwhile, in response to an own-motion notice of Ombudsman Punjab Azam Suleman Khan, the Gujranwala administration has apprised the ombudsman office that Rs24,668,793 fine has been imposed on illegal profiteers in the district, during the last six months while registering 608 cases and arresting 443 persons. 153 shops have also been sealed, concluded the spokesperson.