Rift between USC chairman, MD deepens

The rift between the Utility Stores Corporation (USC) chairman and its managing director over the administrative affairs of the entity has deepened.

The Ministry of Industries and Production (MoIP) has written a letter to USC Chairman Zulqarnain Ali Khan and sought a reply from him for allegedly giving the contract of technology upgradation to his company and appointing one of his relatives as corporation’s board member.

The ministry also said that exceeding his authority, the USC chairman had spent money for the renovation of his office.

After USC Managing Director Umer Lodhi wrote a letter to the Federal Investigation Agency to probe into the irregularities in the purchases made for the USC, the MoIP also sought a reply from Khan.

On being contacted by The Express Tribune, Khan said that he had not seen the details of the letter and denied giving the technology upgradation contract to his company or appointing his relative as a USC board member.

He said that he had decided to resign and added that he had been accused over petty issues.

“I have sought time to meet the prime minister. I will hand over my resignation to the premier in the meeting,” he said.

The chairman observed that when he spoke about corruption, the USC managing director and MoIP officials turned against him and then accused him for building pressure on him.

“I have come from abroad to bring improvement [in the system] in Pakistan. I have an image and will not allow such allegations to be levelled against me,” he said.

“I do not have the executive powers to stop corruption so it is better that I resign. It has not been told anywhere that I offer my services for free. The premier had asked me to conduct audit in the corporation,” he added