A PRIVATE charitable foundation, which is a not-for-profit organisation, had acquired an amenity plot f rom Karachi DevelopmentAuthority (KDA)located in Korangi in 1986 for establishing a township for the benefit of the deprived segments of society.

As the project gradually expanded, we, the governing board of the non-profit organisation, decided to obtain lease document of the land. After clearing all dues and fulfilling legal requirements, we applied for the lease deed in 2015.

Despite complying with all the legal requirements, we had to run from pillar to post for seven years to obtain the lease document from the relevant of fice.

The delay in issuing the lease document by the sub-registrar concerned amounted to maladministration. Af ter exhausting all lawful means, we had no recourse except to seek help from the Sindh ombudsman.

I am happy to acknowledge that due to the sustained support provided by the ombudsman and his secretariat, we finally received the scanned lease document from the relevant department recently.

The provincial ombudsman is an independentinstitution,established through a statute in 1992, to `diagnose, investigate, redress and rectify any injustice done to a person through maladministration by any agency/department of the Sindh government`. The ombudsman provides its services free of cost.

Based on the performance of the provincial ombudsman and our own experience, we suggest that people may make use of ombudsman`s services to get their longstanding issues related to provincial agencies and departments resolved. On the other hand, officials at the helm of af fairs of government departments must review their performance and rectify the f aults so that the people do not suffer long delays to get their rightful issues resolved. Ultimately, it is their responsibility to fix the problems without intervention by other institutions.

Nazim F. Haji Karachi