ISLAMABAD: The Federal Ombudsman, M Salman Faruqui, presented three reports to the President Mamnoon Hussain; briefing him on on systemic issues of different agencies. Three separate committees were constituted earlier by the Federal Ombudsman to study and identify maladministration and systemic failures in the police stations, prisons and pension system. The reports by these committees were also presented by the Ombudsman to the President on Tuesday. The committees on police stations and prisons reforms were set up on the directives of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. In its order, the Supreme Court had outlined the critical conditions of prisons in the country, and also directed the Ombudsman to cognize the systemic failure leading to their maladministration. To pursue the directive, the Federal Ombudsman constituted 27 members of a high-powered committee, which was headed by Senator S. M. Zafar, former Federal Minister for Law and Justice, to examine the issue. Other members of the committee included several retired Federal Secretaries, eminent educationists, serving Inspector Generals of Police of all the provinces, reputed NGOs and other stakeholders. The report also dilated on the conditions prevailing in prisons in different parts of the country and recommended measures with regard to health, living conditions and nutrition of the inmates, as well as the behaviour of jail staff. The committee’s recommendations were in line with the jail manuals and standards of civilised societies and expected to improve standards. The committee on police stations reforms, which was constituted by the Federal Ombudsman, in pursuant of the orders of the Supreme Court, examined the underlying issues and made several recommendations to kerb maladministration in police stations across the country. The committee was headed by the former federal secretary and inspector general of police, Abbas Khan. It also included retired inspector generals of police, retired federal secretaries, and prominent personalities representing important and related sectors of the society. Some of the important recommendations of the committee included kerbing cognizable specialised, restoration of the institution of executive magistracy, and setting up of complaint authority in every district to prevent abuse of authority in police stations. The committee also recommended establishing Forensic Service Agency in provinces and specialized investigation centers in districts to improve the investigation process. The committee accorded high priority to training police in different specialised areas. Thia exercise is expected to make our police stations citizen friendly. The other important issue that the Federal Ombudsman took notice of was the painful delay in the disbursement of pensions, which was causing considerable misery to the most vulnerable and helpless segment of the population. The Ombudsman, therefore, constituted a committee under the chairmanship of the former Auditor General Pakistan, Tanvir Ali Agha, to examine the pension system of the federal government and come up with a workable solution to ensure a timely payment of pension to the senior citizens. After elaborate discussions, the committee identified the magnitude of the problem, its nature and possible solutions in consultation with a broad spectrum of stakeholders for ensuring timely payment of pensions. The committee has made recommendations that are practical and easily implementable.