Rashid-led body to implement Ramazan package: Rs 5 billion sovereign guarantee for USC approved by ECC

The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet Wednesday approved sovereign guarantee of Rs 5 billion for the Utility Stores Corporation (USC) from National Bank of Pakistan to run its affairs. Finance Minister Asad Umar chaired the meeting of the ECC of the Cabinet here on Wednesday. The Industries and Production Division gave a presentation to update the committee about the status of Ramazan Package. The committee directed the USC to expedite the procurement of essential consumer items so as to provide timely relief to the people in the holy month of Ramazan. The ECC constituted a four-member committee to be headed by Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed to oversee the implementation of Ramazan Package. The USC management would brief the committee about the progress on a daily basis to make sure that every store has sufficient stuff available. The committee also directed the Ministry of Finance and National Bank of Pakistan to extend maximum facilitation to the USC in this regard.
Later, briefing the media, Chairman USC Zulqarnain Ali Khan said that an amount of Rs 5 billion approved by the ECC would be released within a couple of days. The amount would help clear the outstanding dues to ensure smooth supply of products to all 4,500 USC outlets across the country. He further said that the government allocated Rs 2 billion for the Ramazan Package which is not sufficient. The Ramazan Package would be effective from May 2. The USC has further sought Rs 3 billion from the government for streamlining the whole USC chain.
He was of the view that the USC needs Rs 15 billion to make sure that every USC store has all products available at subsidised rates. The operational cost of USC is around Rs 600 million which includes salaries of Rs 400 to Rs 450 million for its 14,000 employees across the country. He urged the employees of the USC not to go on strike and encouraged them to facilitate people during the holy month of Ramazan.
The Ministry of Petroleum briefed the ECC on the implementation of the committee's decision regarding utilisation of services of the Pakistan Railways for transportation of petroleum products across the country. The Ministry of Railways informed the committee that it has the capacity to carry higher volumes and would work with the Ministry of Petroleum to explore further possibilities. The ECC in its one of the last meetings had directed state-run Pakistan State Oil (PSO) to use the Pakistan Railways for fuel transportation as it offers up to 26% lower fares compared to transportation through a pipeline and road. The cargo service of Pakistan Railways, especially oil transportation, has remained profitable over the past four decades, but previous governments, particularly the Pakistan Peoples Party's (PPP's) administration, shifted the entire petroleum supply business to oil tankers.
The committee reviewed proposals of various ministries/divisions. The committee also considered and approved various demands of divisions/ ministries for supplementary and technical grants. The ECC will also approve supplementary grants worth billions of rupees demanded by the Ministries of Defence, Federal Education and Professional Training and Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan.
The ECC has approved Rs 44.3 million supplementary grants for the Ministry of Interior. Meanwhile, it has also given approval for Rs 700 million supplementary grants for the Federal Education and Professional Training and Rs 337 million for the Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan.
The finance minister said that the budgetary needs of many organisations had not been properly assessed at the time of preparation of budget estimate last year which was leading to a large number of demands for supplementary grants. He emphasised the need for proper budgeting of the financial needs of various departments, which would obviate the need for supplementary grants during the currency of the fiscal year. He stated that the government is determined to phase out the supplementary grants in future budgets. The ECC approved, in principle, the proposal of Ministry of Information & Broadcasting for media campaign aiming to disseminate information relating to initiatives on poverty alleviation, Sehat Insaaf Scheme, PM's Naya Pakistan Housing Scheme etc.