Banking Mohtasib moot opens: ‘Ombudsmen are resolving masses’ grievance promptly’

KARACHI: The Wafaqi Mohtasib Pakistan, Ejaz Ahmed Qureshi has said that all the Ombudsmen are working in their respective jurisdictions with a view to contributing to resolve the grievance of the general public speedily.

These remarks were made by while inaugurating the Annual Conference of Banking Mohtasib Pakistan “Focus on Values in Public Sector Services” at a local hotel here Saturday.

All the institutions of Ombudsmen are doing public service by resolving the root causes of the complainant grievances. He lauded the role of Banking Mohtasib Pakistan, Sirajuddin Aziz for taking the initiative of holding this conference to share the collective experience of good governance and rule of law. He added that such initiatives are essential for improving the lot of the common man.

Ejaz Qureshi also spoke about the development and progress of Federal Ombudsman’s Office mentioned that earlier there were only four offices of which have new gone up to 24 Offices in every nook and corner of the country.

Speaking on the occasion, former federal minister Javed Jabbar lauding the Banking Mohtasib Pakistan, Sirajuddin Aziz for the remarkable initiative take by holding the first ever conference in which all the officers and staff across Pakistan are participating. This reflects his vision and empathy for the people that the conference has been held after 18 years of the establishment of the Banking Mohtasib Pakistan Secretariat, he added.

He also emphasized upon the audience to inculcate in their lives the values of respect, integrity, etc to ameliorate the lot of the people.

Javed Jabbar stressed upon the need for providing financial assistance to women engaged in small and medium enterprises. In this regard he asked the Banking Mohtasib to use his good offices to persuade the State Bank of Pakistan officials as well as high-ups commercial banks to provide finances to SME’s and particularly to women on soft terms.

Javed Jabbar appreciating the role of State Bank of Pakistan for its stability, credibility and performance over the last 77 years and asked other institutions to emulate it. Besides State Bank, the other institution to admire is Nadra which has done tremendously excellent over the years which has gained international recognition for its solid data base.

The former Governor State bank of Pakistan, Dr. Ishrat Hussain in his concluding address to the conference advised the institution of Banking Mohtasib to be objective, neutral and conduct due diligence without bias while dealing with the complaints.

His suggested to the Banking Mohtasib to hold meetings with Pakistan Banks association to devise such strategies so as to reach the public’s complaints against Banks.

He also stressed upon the need for training of the personnel of the Banking Mohtasib Offices as human resource require attention for efficient progression of par excellence in the day’s world of technological development. He added that if Banking Mohtasib Organization can adopt best practices in the banking filed and adopts these criteria it would become the best institution of Banking Ombudsman.

It is added that Banking Mohtasib institution was established in 2005 under the direction of State Bank of Pakistan at the time when Dr. Ishrat Husain was its Governor and then Doctor Saheb inaugurated the office of Banking Ombudsman.

Azhar Hamid, the pioneer and first Banking Mohtasib also grace the occasion and spoke about his rich experience when he was associated with this forum.

G M Abbasi Director Islamic Finance Policy Department, State Bank of Pakistan made a presentation on Islamic banking at the day-long conference. Two other presentations on “Regulatory framework and Breaking Pakistan’s Debt Spiral” were made by the officers of Banking Mohtasib Pakistan.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024