A bad decision

The decision to shut down Utility Stores countrywide is ill-conceived and will result in societal unrest. Around 5,900 stores, including franchises, with a subsidy of more than Rs50 billion were serving about 30 million low-income people, apart from being a source of employment for roughly 11,000 employees. Closing this grass-root service in the name of cost-cutting, at a time when inflation is already high, is highly ill-advised. Irrespective of the fact that stocks and service at these outlets were not up to mark and people sizzled for hours to try their luck, it was still a major source of consolation for people who lived on a tightened budget to make ends meet.

The government is primarily clueless as it chalked out a roadmap for downsizing, being unsure which subsidiary bodies to scrap and what to do with essential employees. While no austerity drive is evident at the highest echelons of bureaucracy, as perks and privileges are in vogue, penalising the downtrodden by snatching the two square meals they hardly managed somehow is bad governance. Secondly, there is a policy gulf as the government says that it will go for privatising the Utility Stores. The point is: how can a private entity that will invest in taking over the low-cost stores be able to sell commodities on a lower tariff, and from where will the subsidy amount come? This seems to be a crude joke, and one that is in bad taste for the masses already pestering under inflated utility bills and slumping livelihood.

A number of decisions in the last few days have literally unnerved the masses, such as sending home employees of Metro service without being paid; abolishing the food department; and reportedly discontinuing the provision of milk to students in Punjab schools. Likewise, the provincial government's decision to slash electricity bills by Rs14 for two months is also in thin air, and confusion reigns supreme. It's high time to realise that the masses are getting furious and any attempt to push them to the wall will have serious consequences.