The employees of Utility Stores have served with honesty and dedication for decades, and it is regrettable to disregard their services.
Imran
Karachi
Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon has expressed serious concerns over the sudden closure of the Utility Stores Corporation of Pakistan, stating that the employees of Utility Stores have served with honesty and dedication for decades, and it is regrettable to disregard their services.
In a statement, Sindh Senior Minister and Provincial Minister for Information, Transport, and Mass Transit Sharjeel Inam Memon said that the Utility Stores Corporation has played a vital role in providing basic food items to low-income citizens at affordable prices for the past 55 years. In 1971, Shaheed Zulfikar Bhutto established utility stores to provide subsidies to the poor.
He said that the Utility Stores Corporation was serving an average of 15 to 20 million people per month through approximately 3,800 utility stores across the country, particularly in areas where the private sector has no reach.
Sharjeel Inam Memon said that the closure of utility stores and the dismissal of around 12,000 employees through a golden handshake is an attack on the livelihoods of thousands of families and goes against the public interest. He added that utility stores employees have served with honesty and dedication for decades, and it is regrettable to disregard their services.
He said that instead of rendering the hardworking employees of utility stores jobless, they should be properly accommodated in other federal or provincial institutions. Rather than completely shutting down the utility stores, they should be restructured and their role preserved by aligning them with modern requirements.
He added that utility stores are not merely a business entity; they represent a national service that provides essential support and convenience to millions of people across the country.
