India Interested In N.Z. Ombudsman

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30593, 9 November 1964, Page 3

India Interested In N.Z. Ombudsman

(New Zealand Press Association) DUNEDIN, November 8. India may adopt an Ombudsman system similar to New Zealand’s if the Indian Government approved a report being prepared by Dr. M. P. Jain, research director of the Indian Law Institute in New Delhi.

Dr. Jain, who is in New Zealand at the invitation of the University Grants Committee, is studying the Ombudsman system here and is also visiting the law faculties of universities in the four main centres.

In Dunedin tonight Dr. Jain said the Indian Law Institute had already prepared a report favouring an Ombudsman system for India for presentation to the Government and he was preparing a further report as a result of his visit to New Zealand. New Zealand was the only country with the same Parliamentary form of Government as India so it was the only logical country for India to study the Ombudsman system.

Scandinavian countries did not provide the same model which New Zealand did, Dr. Jain said. It was fortunate New Zealand’s Ombudsman (Sir Guy Powles) had been High Commissioner tn India for three years as he understood the problems of that country and was able to give helpful advice.

Dr. Jain said the proposal for India was to have an Ombudsman for the central Government established initially and then let individual States adopt the system and appoint Ombudsmen for each State.

The system in- New Zealand seemed to be working perfectly, he said.

Unlike in New Zealand, in India it was not the Government taking the initiative to appoint an Ombudsman—the Law Institute had to convince the Government that the

system was desirable, Dr. Jain said. While in New Zealand, Dr. Jain is visiting law faculties of universities in Auckland, Dunedin, Christchurch and Wellington with a view to. the possible exchange of law students and teachers between India and New Zealand. Such an exchange would be most beneficial for students completing advanced studies, he said.

Most Indian law students who travelled overseas to study went to the United States.