{"id":500208,"date":"2025-09-01T01:06:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-31T20:06:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/?p=500208"},"modified":"2025-09-01T01:06:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-31T20:06:07","slug":"govt-shuts-down-all-utility-stores-across-country","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/govt-shuts-down-all-utility-stores-across-country\/","title":{"rendered":"Govt shuts down all utility stores across country"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Minister Tariq Fazal reveals USC currently employs 11,614 workers, set to receive Rs28 billion severance package<br \/>\n ISLAMABAD<br \/>\nThe federal government announced the closure of all utility stores across the country, citing persistent financial losses despite multiple efforts to revive the organization.<br \/>\nAddressing a press conference in Islamabad on Sunday, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said the decision was taken on the prime minister\u2019s directives, and the stores will be shut down from August 31. Senior officials of the Utility Stores Corporation (USC) were also present at the briefing.<br \/>\n\u201cThe Utility Stores Corporation has played a significant role in the national economy since its establishment in 1971,\u201d the minister said. \u201cDespite continuous efforts, we failed to reduce the losses of the corporation, and therefore, it had to be closed down,\u201d he added.<br \/>\nThe minister revealed that USC currently employs 11,614 workers, who will receive a Rs28 billion severance package. \u201cThe rights of employees have been fully safeguarded, and even contractual staff will be compensated,\u201d he added.<br \/>\nThe minister further announced that all USC assets nationwide will be auctioned, ensuring transparency in the process.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Minister Tariq Fazal reveals USC currently employs 11,614 workers, set to receive Rs28 billion severance package ISLAMABAD The federal government announced the closure of all utility stores across the country, citing persistent financial losses despite multiple efforts to revive the organization. Addressing a press conference in Islamabad on Sunday, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Tariq Fazal [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":500221,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-500208","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Govt shuts down all utility stores across country<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/leadpakistan.com.pk\/news\/govt-shuts-down-all-utility-stores-across-country\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Govt shuts down all utility stores across country\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Minister Tariq Fazal reveals USC currently employs 11,614 workers, set to receive Rs28 billion severance package ISLAMABAD The federal government announced the closure of all utility stores across the country, citing persistent financial losses despite multiple efforts to revive the organization. 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