Government to expand USC network to 10,000

The government has decided to expand the network of Utility Stores Corporation (USC) stores from 5,000 to 10,000 to increase the annual turn over of the corporation from Rs 50 billion to Rs 100 billion, it was learnt.
Sources said that expansion in the network of utility stores was proposed by the Ministry of Industries and Production during a presentation to Finance Ministry on restructuring of the organisation. The officials of the USC reportedly said that the expansion of stores would not only provide relief to the poor but would also increase its annual turnover from Rs50 billion to Rs100 billion and mobilise additional Rs 8 billion as revenue for the government.
The proposed expansion would also create more than 15,000 new jobs and would result in computerisation of the entire USC network. Under the proposed restructuring plan, the Board of Directors of the USC would be reconstituted by inducting experts from different walks of life, including economists, accountants, financial managers and retail business representatives.
The meeting was informed that the USC has been making profit despite selling goods below the market rates and was paying bonus to its employees and taxes to the government. The perception that USC was running into losses was a misconception.
It was suggested that new stores should be opened in the low income urban localities to provide essential commodities at subsidised rates and supermarket and mini market in the main cities. The meeting was further informed that the basic purpose of the utility stores is intervention in the market through sale of essential commodities at rates less than available in the market.
The USC also informed the Finance Ministry that a meeting of the Federal Cabinet in July 2007 had decided to open 5,000 new stores at union council level to provide essential commodities to consumers at subsidised rate. It was also decided that some basic medicines would also be sold at the utility stores at least at 25 percent lower price due to persistent rise in the price of medicines in the domestic market.
The officials of the USC reportedly also stated that non-availability of banking facilities, security problems and commercial viability were major hurdles in opening of USC at Union Council level. The finance ministry was informed that total utility stores in the country are 5700, out of which 3047 are in Punjab, 1210 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 928 USC in Sindh, 92 in Azad Kashmir and 74 in Northern Areas.