ACCORDING to media reports, the government is planning to go public with Toshakhana records. This is encouraging, but not enough. I recently went through the rules and regulations related to state gifts in various countries, and it is distressing to learn that in an economically-hit country like ours, the Toshakhana rules are framed to suit ‘some’.
In India, for instance, any gift up to Rs5,000 can be retained without any payment, and, in England, the limit is 1400 euros, while in Pakistan, a gift with value up to Rs30,000 can be retained for free. Similarly, in India, England and the United States, one has to pay 100 per cent amount of the market value to retain a gift, but in Pakistan it is only 20pc of the market value.
More appalling is the fact that the market value is set at the lowest level without even consulting the market.
Our politicians keep expressing their eagerness to help the country, but if they are even a wee bit sincere in such assertions, they should be making changes to the Toshakhana (Manage-ment and Regulation) Act, 2022, which is yet to be approved by parliament, and is lying idle at the drafting stage.
Muhammad Hassan Ansari
Islamabad
Published in Dawn, January 14th, 2023
