The Islamabad administration has sealed off D-Chowk with containers in anticipation of a potential protest by employees of the Utility Stores Corporation (USC) against the possible closure of the corporation.

USC employees have called for a protest today against the potential closure of the stores.

Last week, the Secretary of the Ministry of Industries and Production had stated that the government was considering closing all Utility Stores across the country.

However, Minister for Industries and Production Rana Tanvir Hussain later refuted this notion, insisting that the government was planning to restructure the corporation.

Utility stores employees to strike over government plans to close USCs

The USC operates over 4,000 stores nationwide, aiming to provide essential commodities to the public at subsidized rates. It is among the list of ministries and departments that the government intends to privatize.

In June this year, while answering a question in the National Assembly, Federal Minister for Privatization Abdul Aleem Khan had stated that the government intends to privatize 24 state-owned entities, including the national airline PIA, Roosevelt Hotel, First Women Bank, Utility Stores Corporation, and others.