Employees of Utility Stores Corporation (USC) have started a sit-in protest in Islamabad against the proposed closure of stores across the country.
According to the Utility Stores Joint Action Committee, workers from all over Pakistan are arriving in the capital to participate in the protest.
The committee has announced that the sit-in will continue until their demands are met.
In a strong statement, the committee said that shutting down Utility Stores would be like handing over 260 million citizens to the “mafias of inflation.”
Thousands of employees are gathering in front of the USC head office and will march towards Parliament House today, the committee added.
Joint Action Committee Chairman Syed Arif Hussain Shah warned that the closure of Utility Stores would trigger a fresh wave of inflation and render thousands of families jobless. He added that the decision also violates national laws.
“We will not give up our legal rights,” said the committee, calling on the President of Pakistan and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to take notice of what they termed an “illegal” move by the government.
