Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has approved the constitution of an inter-ministerial committee that will formulate a new Toshakhana Policy.
The notification by the Cabinet Division, dated 24 June, was tweeted today by Secretary Cabinet, Ahmed Nawaz Sukhera. He added that the committee has been given a month to complete the task. It has also been directed to be more open and transparent, with appropriate provisions for declassification, and to follow international best practices.
Prime Minister has formed a committee to formulate & propose a new Toshakhana Policy. It’s been given one month to complete the task, with directions that it should be more open, transparent, having appropriate provision for declassification, & in line with int’l best practices. pic.twitter.com/oaY1jzQ4Kg
— Ahmad Nawaz Sukhera (@ansukhera) July 2, 2022
As per the notification, the following Terms of Reference (ToRs) have been specified for the committee:
- The committee will holistically review/revisit the ‘Procedure for the Acceptance and Disposal of Gifts, 2018’ and prepare a new draft.
- The draft should be more open and transparent with appropriate provisions for de-classification.
- The new Toshakhana Procedure should be in the light of requirements of transparency and international best practices.
- The committee will submit its report to the Prime Minister within a period of one month.
- The Cabinet Division will provide Secretariat support to the committee.
The committee will comprise 12 members, including the Minister for Defence as the Convener of the committee, and the Additional Secretary of the Cabinet Division as the Secretary to the Committee. Its other members are the Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM), Syed Tariq Fatemi; the Ministers for Commerce, and Law and Justice; the Secretaries of the Cabinet Division and the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Finance, Law and Justice, and Information and Broadcasting; Khawaja Zaheer Ahmed (a retired BPS-22 officer); and the former Director-General of the Intelligence Bureau, Aftab Sultan.
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