Government cautious about Toshakhana details

The government declined today (Wednesday) to share the three-year details of the Toshakhana (gift chest) where the prime minister, ministers, bureaucrats and dignitaries are supposed to deposit all gifts they receive on their trips abroad. In response to questions by senators seeking details of the last three years of the gifts received from top government dignitaries during their foreign trips, they were told the Senate that any disclosure could create a media hype and potentially damage the country's interests.
Citing Section 15(1) of the Freedom of Information Ordinance, 2002, the minister in charge for Cabinet Division said in a written reply during question hour that information pertaining to the Toshakhana was covered under the law, as the gifts were exchanged between heads of states and heads of governments to give a personal touch to inter-state relations.
"Such gifts are reflective of the interests and persona of the parties to the gift. Disclosure of such information may create media hype and thus be potentially damaging to the interests of Pakistan in the conduct of international relations," he said. The ruling PML-N's Kalsoom Perveen had asked the names of Pakistani dignitaries who received gifts during their official visits abroad in last three years, details indicating details of the gifts and present status thereof in each case, and names of the dignitaries who retained those gifts on payment, indicating also the value of the gift and payment made in each case.
The minister pointed out that under Rule 5 of the Government Servants (Conduct) Rules, 1964, no government servant shall, except with the previous sanction of the government, accept or permit any member of his family to accept from any person any gift the receipt of which will place him under any form of official obligation to the donor.
However, if due to exceptional reasons a gift could not be refused, the same might, under intimation to the Cabinet Division, be kept for official use in the department or organisation in which he is working. If any gift was offered by the head or representative of a foreign state, the government servant concerned should attempt to avoid acceptance of such a gift, if he could do so without giving offence.
"If, however, due to very exceptional reasons, a gift cannot be refused, it should invariably be deposited in the Toshakhana. All gifts received by a government servant, irrespective of their prices, must be reported to the Toshakhana in the Cabinet Division.
"However, the responsibility for reporting to the Cabinet Division receipt of gifts, including the names of recipients, from foreign dignitaries or delegations, who come to Pakistan or when Pakistan dignitaries or delegations go abroad, shall lie with the chief of protocol or his representative in the former case and with the ambassador or concerned in the latter case," he noted.
Syed Tahir Hussain Mashhadi of the MQM, the PTI's Muhammad Azam Swati and Dr Jehanzeb Jamaldeni agitated on "far lesser" number of grade-22 officers from smaller provinces in the list of Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS), as there was just one officer, federal secretary of Kashmir Affairs Pir Bakhsh Jamali from Balochistan and 16 from Sindh, 15 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 2 from AJK and 51 from Punjab, and there was none from FATA.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sheikh Aftab Ahmad told the House that the federation was not at all meting out injustice to anyone and that the prime minister heads the promotion board.
He did not agree with the senators that step-motherly treatment was being meted out to the smaller provinces and that the recruiting agency was biased towards the smaller provinces. Minister for the Capital Administration and Development Division, Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, conceded in the Senate that he had so far not seen any doctor being penalised for misbehaving with attendants or his action that might have put the life of a patient at risk.
Sen Muhammad Azam Swati of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf said he wondered if there was no concept of punishment and reward for doctors at government hospitals. The minister, who himself is an MBBS doctor, conceded that there was sufficient room for improvement in the laws of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council, as presently the process is extremely lengthy and consumes months.
Replying to another question, the minister said that presently 584 postgraduates paid trainee doctors are working in PIMS and are being paid Rs 73,000 per month, more than in any other part of Pakistan. The stipend was increased from Rs 50,000 to Rs 73,000 on August 17, 2016.
Minister for Commerce Khurram Dastagir said that it is not a fact that a large number of industrial units, especially textile units, have been closed and pointed out that eight companies were de-listed in July-December 2015-16 and 14 in July-December 2014-15, while seven textile companies were de-listed during this period. He added that compared to 2,196 companies registered in July-December 2014-15, as many as 2,747 were registered during the same period in 2015-16. The minister said that owing to the better energy situation knitwear had showed 17 percent growth during the first six months of the current financial year.