Pakistan’s Toshakhana Records Before 1997 Nowhere to Be Found, Cabinet Division Confirms
Pakistan’s Cabinet Division has admitted that all official records of the Toshakhana — the government’s repository for gifts received by state officials — prior to 1997 are missing.
The revelation came during a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) session on Tuesday, chaired by Syed Naveed Qamar. When asked about historical documentation, the Cabinet Division Secretary bluntly stated:
“We searched extensively but found no record whatsoever before 1997.”
Loopholes and Lack of Regulation
The Toshakhana has long been a subject of scrutiny due to questions over how gifts are catalogued, valued, and distributed. The secretary defended the division’s management, saying no formal laws had been broken, but admitted that historically, weak regulations meant officials sometimes took items directly without clear protocols.
He told the PAC that legal reforms were underway and that amendments to strengthen Toshakhana regulations are being reviewed at the Prime Minister’s level.
Qamar pressed for urgency: “The Prime Minister should look into this matter immediately,” he said.
Auction System Under Fire
The committee also turned its attention to Toshakhana’s auction practices. Qamar questioned why gifts often ended up being sold to the same group of buyers and why open bidding was rarely seen.
Officials said advertisements for auctions were regularly placed in newspapers but public interest remained “negligible.”
“People generally don’t want to acquire Toshakhana items. Even officers avoid involvement out of fear of future legal complications,” one official said.
Calls for Transparency
Committee member Moin Amir Pirzada proposed a new system where high-value gifts are assessed directly by the companies that produced them to ensure fair pricing. Qamar also challenged the Finance Ministry’s monopoly on setting item prices, pushing instead for a fully transparent, competitive auction model.
The debate reflects growing pressure on the government to overhaul Toshakhana policies, which have often been criticized for lacking transparency. With no records prior to 1997, scrutiny over how state gifts have been handled in the past is likely to intensify.
