The voluntary separation scheme (VSS) for employees of the Utility Stores Corporation (USC) has revealed that the federal government would need more than Rs. 29 billion to shut down the state-run retail chain, with a majority of funds allocated for permanent staff.
According to official documents seen by ProPakistani, over Rs. 22.84 billion has been requested for payments to 5,217 permanent employees in various installments. An additional Rs. 6.33 billion is needed for the 6,204 temporary and daily wage workers, bringing the total employee count to 11,421 across USC.
Sources said the Ministry of Finance has rejected including contract and daily wage employees in the financial package.
The ministry has instructed the Establishment Division, Ministry of Industries, and USC management to prepare a revised separation plan exclusively for permanent staff. Officials argued that there is no policy framework to extend benefits to temporary or daily wage workers.
Meanwhile, warehouse operations remain a sticking point. Employees have refused to vacate the premises until a written settlement is reached. Goods worth an estimated Rs. 6 billion are still stored in USC warehouses across the country.
The government had initially directed that USC warehouses be vacated starting July 10, but implementation has stalled due to employee resistance and lack of compensation agreement.
Sources added that the revised separation package will be finalized by a committee headed by the Secretary, Ministry of Industries, and is expected to be sent to the Prime Minister for approval next week. The delay in finalizing the package has cast doubt on the timeline for USC’s complete shutdown by month-end.
