ISLAMABAD: The employees of Utility Stores Corporation (USC) continue to protest for the third day against the likely closure of the stores and permanent contracts.
It was reported that the deadlock between the employees and the government continued as hundreds of employees gathered at D-Chowk in Islamabad from across the country and urged the government to settle Rs27.6 billion worth of its subsidy claims pending for the last seven years which is creating a financial crunch for the corporation and leading to its possible closure.
Moreover, Prime Minister Imran Khan’s adviser on commerce, textiles, industries production and investment Abdul Razzaq Dawood is expected to meet with the protestors in order to resolve their issues on Wednesday.
The commerce adviser’s secretary said, “We are ready to accept all the demands of the protesters except for the permanent employment one.”
However, the employees said they will continue to protest until all their demands are met including the permanent employment one.
Earlier, on Monday, Prime Minister’s (PM) Advisor on Political Affairs Naeemul Haque had announced that the government has accepted all the demands made by the USC employees.
In a statement, he had said that some elements of PML-N and PPP are trying to provoke the protesting USC employees because these two parties committed massive corruption during their terms in the government.
Naeemul Haque had further said that the government will protect the rights of employees to the maximum level.
Earlier, employees of USC, on the second day of their protest against the likely closure of the stores, had demanded permanent contracts.
They had also demanded that their contracts are made permanent and their wages and salaries are increased.
The utility stores throughout the country remained closed as the protestors said they would not leave until their demands were accepted.
A day earlier, negotiations with PTI leader Naeemul Haque had failed.
Earlier in August, the government ordered the USC to halt all purchases until further notice, leaving as many as 14,000 employees in the lurch.
The USC is a state-owned enterprise that operates chain stores all over the country which provide basic commodities to the general public at prices lower than the open market due to government subsidies.
