Senate panel resents absence of USC outlets in remote areas

A parliamentary panel Monday expressed serious resentment over the absence of utility stores in remote and backward areas, saying that Utility Stores Corporation (USC) is operating only in big cities and towns where masses have already access to cheap daily use items while everything to people is available at high prices in rural and backward areas. The Senate Functional Committee on the Problems of the Less Developed Areas met here under the chairmanship of Senator Usman Kakar to discuss and review progress on the committee's directions to the concerned quarters.
The committee observed that USC is mainly operating in big cities and towns. The committee members said that in far-flung areas of the country USC's presence is almost zero whereas those areas have almost 65% population of the country. The panel directed and recommended the USC chairman to establish stores in Awaran and Musakhail districts of Balochistan as early as possible and also prefer to set up centers in rural areas instead of big cities.
Briefing the committee, senior USC officials said that the organization is already facing financial losses as the stores set up in urban areas are not profitable, therefore the corporation is hesitating to set up additional outlets in the country.
On the subject of daily wage employees, the panel recommended the USC to regularize all these employees so that their work efficiency can be improved. The officials said that the Corporation is already working on the past recommendations of the committee under which advertisement in national press has been published and interviews have also been conducted. The panel directed the chairman USC to submit a detailed report before the panel within one month on the subject.
The panel was informed by the officials on the status of Bostan Industrial State Balochistan, saying out of Rs 519 million, Rs 371 million have been spent on developing 200 acres of land. The panel also recommended the government to establish vocational training institutes in backward areas to improve the skills of the people in a bid to bring them at par with the masses of the rest of the country in finding and competing for various jobs.
The panel also directed the USC to submit recommendations on improving and betterment in the system within 15 days with additional directions to improve the quality of stuff being sold at the stores. The panel also directed the officials to operate maximum mobile utility stores in remote areas in the bid to provide cheap daily use items to the rural population.