Utility store catering to whole Laspur valley closed down

HARCHIN: The PTI government has decided to close down the only outlet of the Utility Store Corporation of Pakistan that catered to the masses of the whole Laspur valley of Upper Chitral, local people told ChitralToday. 

This was the only utility store located in the Harchin village and people of the area hit hard by rising inflation used to purchase daily-use items from the outlet at subsidized rates. The government decision to shut the store has come as a bolt from the sky. 

The notables of the area held a meeting with former union council nazim and social figure Nigahban Shah in the chair in Harchin today. The meeting condemned the closure of the outlet and asked the government to withdraw its decision otherwise the area people would launch a protest move. 

The participants said during the recent visit of chief minister’s special assistant Wazirzada to the area, the locals had requested him to open more utility stores in Laspur. However, to their dismay, the government decided to even shut down the only outlet in the valley.

An official in the utility store said the facility was closed due to unavailability of internet to run the online system which has been introduced in the utility stores. There is only one mobile service provider in the whole area which recently claimed to have launched 4G service.

But instead of the 4G, the subscribers say they are neither having 2G internet nor could make a proper phone calls. The government has also failed to make the company bound to provide the subscribers internet service as promised. Any way, it is the responsibility of the government to provide internet service to its utility stores before introducing the online system.

The meeting called upon the government to immediately review its anti-people decision and reopen the store and set up more outlets in the Laspur valley.–Amir Nayab