ISLAMABAD: Following the government’s decision to provide targeted subsidies to inflation hit masses, the Utility Store Corporation (USC) had completed the automation of Utility Stores in Islamabad region, shifting 20 per cent of its total sales to automation.
According to officials, during a meeting held at the Ministry of Industries and Production on Monday, it was informed that USC would inaugurate the automated systems in the federal capital next week.
The meeting, which was chaired by Federal Minister for Industries and Production Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar, was held to review progress of the digitisation and automation programme of USC under the Digital Pakistan Initiative (DPI). The meeting was attended by secretary Industries and Production, USC MD, senior officials of the ministry and representatives of PTCL and NRTC.
The USC managing director briefed the chair on the progress of digisation including encompassing it’s business process under enterprise resource planning (ERP), including supply chain, warehousing, financials, deployment of POS, human resources, and targeted subsidy which will be consummated by the end of November.
While reviewing the progress, Bakhtyar highlighted that the government would provide targeted subsidies at the Utility Stores for Prime Minister Ehsaas Programme beneficiaries by linking their Ehsaas Cards and NICs with sale points to make the stores a targeted subsidy tool.
He informed that upon completion, the Prime Minister Imran Khan would inaugurate the automation programme as Digital Pakistan’s vision has been very close to his heart.
He remarked that the project would be the largest digitisation programme of any public sector oriented company and also lauded the ongoing cooperation of PTCL and NRTC to work hand-in-hand with USC to carry out automation processes.
Under the Ehsaas umbrella, the national scale targeted subsidies programme will identify beneficiaries through the Ehsaas National Socioeconomic Survey Registry, 2021. The programme has specifically been designed to provide inflation relief to the poor.
Under the federal-provincial partnership, the programme will be implemented in collaboration with National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and USC.
Subsidies will be granted to beneficiary households on selected essential commodities.
Ehsaas has developed a digitally enabled mobile point of sale system in partnership with NBP to serve beneficiaries through a network of designated Kiryana stores all over the country.
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