Federal Govt decides to shut down utility stores – SUCH TV
The federal government has decided to close Utility Stores across the country, a move confirmed by the secretary of industries and production ministry during a Senate Standing Committee meeting on Friday.
The secretary told the meeting the decision was part of a broader strategy of the government to exit non-essential business operations, and that efforts were ongoing to reassign affected employees to other institutions.
The announcement was made during a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Industry and Production, which was chaired by Senator Aoun Abbas. The secretary emphasized that the government’s aim is to streamline its operations by moving away from activities deemed non-essential.
According to the Utility Store management, the federal government has given them two weeks, while the subsidy on items available at the stores had already ended. According to the management, after the news of closure of the stores, there was concern among more than 11,000 employees, out of which 6,000 were permanent and others on contract and daily wages.
On the other hand, the standing committee took strict notice on the decision to close Utility Stores and sought details on the statement of the industries secretary. Committee Chairman Senator Aoun Abbas Bappi expressed concern over the government’s decision.
“I was not aware of it. It is a very sad decision. No one was aware of the closure of the stores,” he remarked, adding that the government did not know what will happen to the thousands of employees after the closure. “Where will the employees be adjusted? Will people be rendered unemployed?”
In addition to the Utility Store closure, the meeting featured a briefing from the Engineering Development Board on the electric vehicle policy. The board reported that local car manufacturers have failed to meet their vehicle export targets. The primary issue identified was the lack of production of auto parts at the local level, which has impeded the ability to export vehicles.
The committee chairman suggested withdrawing the export targets of vehicles.
