ISLAMABAD: After 54 years of providing subsidised essential items to the masses, the Utility Stores Corporation (USC) officially ceased its operations on Thursday amid talks between the government and the employees regarding the compensation package.

The management of the USC has issued notices to the zonal managers to cease all sales and purchases from July 31, “except shifting of stock from stores to warehouses & returned to vendors and handing-taking of stores’ inventories”.

The USC is a state-owned enterprise established in 1971 to provide essential commodities at subsidised prices to the public, particularly targeting low-income segments. The corporation was operating more than 4,000 retail outlets throughout the country.

However, the government decided to shut down the USC under the austerity drive and sack all employees.

A recent report by the finance ministry titled ‘Federal State Owned Enterprises (SOE) Performance Overview’, reviewing the first six months of FY25, highlighted that the six-month losses of the USC were Rs4.1 billion.

Employees’ union slams decision, hopes settlement on ‘voluntary separation scheme’ will be reached today

This was still far less than the Rs6.29bn loss posted by the Pakistan Post, Rs7.19bn by the PTCL, and Rs153.27bn by the National Highway Authority for the same period.

Meanwhile, the USC employees’ union had already obtained a stay order from the National Industrial Relations Commission (NIRC) till September 10, 2025, on the grounds that the due process for the shutdown had not been followed.

Talking to Dawn, Raja Muhammad Miskeen, USC CBA Union secretary general, criticised the government for not following the NIRC directives.

“The USC was established to allow government interventions in case of an emergency, just like the current sugar crisis,” Raja Miskeen said, adding that the idea behind the USC was that the government would sell essential items at subsidised rates to counter market manipulation by the retailers or wholesalers.

Meanwhile, responding to the query over the NIRC stay order, a senior official of the industries ministry said that the order pertained to the protection of the employees and not against the closure of the USC stores.

“To protect the financial rights of the employees, a high-level committee has been established and the negotiations are underway with the employees’ union of the USC,” the official added.

Arif Shah, CBA union president and the negotiator, slammed the decision, saying several essential service-providing government entities were making losses.

“People can live without roads and teleph­ones but not without flour, ghee, pulses, sugar, etc.,” he said, hoping a settlement bet­ween the two would be reached today (Fri­day) over several issues, including the separation scheme.

Published in Dawn, Aug 1st, 2025