By Syed Tauqeer Zaidi
DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Several months after the shutdown of Pakistan’s Utility Stores Corporation, thousands of employees are still waiting for their salaries, pending dues and the compensation package announced by the government, leaving many in acute financial distress.
Workers say their households are struggling to cope, with parents unable to pay school fees for their children and others forced to forgo medicines for elderly and sick family members. They have accused the Utility Stores Corporation management of negligence, sluggishness and deliberate delays, alleging that billions of rupees released by the government have not been passed on to affected employees.
According to the workers, what they describe as managerial apathy and incompetence has left them humiliated and destitute. They argue that the closure of a revenue-generating institution such as the Utility Stores Corporation is not only an injustice to more than 11,000 employees but also harmful to the wider public. Employees have criticized the government, saying the decision reflects anti-worker and anti-public policies.
