Senator Aon Abbas, Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Industries and Production, on Friday said the government was considering shutting down all utility stores in the country, a move that may impact millions of low-income families as well as around 7,000 employees under the Utility Stores Corporation (USC).
The development comes after Senator Aon Abbas chaired a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Industries and Production today at Parliament House.
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“When the secretary [ Secretary for Ministry of Industries and Production] was asked if the government was planning to shut down the utility stores, he confirmed that the government was moving towards closing utility stores,” Aon Abbas said while speaking to media after the meeting.
“When I further asked about the employees of the utility stories, they [govt] do not have any plan.
“Around 7,000 of employees will be rendered out of jobs and the secretary couldn’t answer if the government would give them golden handshake or provide them jobs in some other departments,” Abbas said.
“This incompetent government can give nothing but unemployment.”
A source in the Ministry of Industries and Production told Business Recorder that the decision to close all utility stores in the country was taken in a meeting on “rightsizing”, which was chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on August 16, 2024.
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The government plans to wind up the USC and explore an alternate arrangement including cash transfer to the recipients, according to the source.
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