Pakistan: Punjab under fire for ‘choking’ wheat flow to two provinces

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Thursday asked Punjab to withdraw restrictions on the inter-provincial movement of wheat and flour, warning that the curbs are disrupting supply chains, increasing prices and threatening food security in the province.

Meanwhile, the PPP leadership in Sindh also lashed out at the Punjab government, accusing it of restricting the supply of wheat seed.

In a letter to his Punjab counterpart, KP’s food secretary said that lifting the ban was critical to res­t­oring a smooth supply chain, stabilising market prices, and safeguarding his province’s food security.

The letter said KP, a wheat-deficient province, depends on inter-provincial supplies from Punjab to meet its requirements — roughly 14,500 tonnes per day.

“The prevailing restrictions have severely disrupted the flow of wheat and flour into the province, thereby threatening food availability and destabilising market prices,” it read.

While KP acknowledged Punjab’s recent permit-based allocation of 2,000 tonnes of flour for transport to KP, it termed the quota “insufficient” relative to actual requirements.

KP lamented that despite repeated communications from its chief secretary, food secretary and director of food to Punjab, the ban continued to remain in force.

“This situation is inconsistent with the provisions of Article 151(1) of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, which guarantees freedom of inter-provincial trade and movement of goods across the country,” the letter said.

The letter added that the issue was raised at a high-level meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, on Oct 17 regarding the Interim Wheat Policy 2025, where the smooth inter-provincial movement of wheat and its products was emphasised.

“The KP Flour Mills Association has repeatedly conveyed grave concerns over the rapidly depleting wheat stocks, cautioning that the non-availability of wheat and flour may arise in the coming days if the restrictions persist,” it said.

On Wednesday, KP Chief Minister Mohammad Sohail Afridi condemned Punjab’s “ban” on wheat and flour transport to KP, calling it a violation of the Constitution and “an attack on the rights” of the people of the province.

Chairing a meeting, he directed the food department’s high-ups to write a letter to the Punjab government demanding immediate removal of all restrictions to ensure free movement of wheat and its flour across the provincial borders, according to a statement from the chief minister’s secretariat.

Mr Afridi said that hiding behind political differences to deprive citizens of necessities was unacceptable.

Officials told the meeting that KP consumes about 5.3 million tonnes of wheat and flour annually, of which only 1.5 million tonnes are produced locally, while the remainder is sourced from Punjab and other provinces.

Meanwhile, despite an apparent ceasefire between coalition partners, tensions between the PPP and PML-N have escalated once again after the Punjab government allegedly halted the supply of wheat seed to Sindh — a move that sparked strong protests from the PPP, which has called for the prime minister’s urgent intervention.

Nisar Khuhro, PPP’s Sindh chapter president and chair of the provincial Public Accounts Committee, accused both the federal and Punjab governments of being “anti-Sindh” and urged PM Shehbaz to take immediate notice of the issue.

“As the wheat sowing season begins, the Punjab Agriculture Regulatory Authority and the Food Department, acting on the Punjab government’s directives, have reportedly halted the supply of hundreds of thousands of wheat seed bags to Sindh,” he said.

“This disruption has raised serious concerns that wheat cultivation across vast areas of Sindh could be severely affected. If Punjab does not resume seed supply to Sindh immediately, the province’s overall wheat production could decline significantly,” he added.

On Wednesday, the PPP’s questions over the wheat procurement mechanism following the recent announcement of the minimum support price (MSP) at Rs3,500 per 40 kilograms created quite a stir between the two sides and drew a strong reaction from the Punjab government.

In May, the federal food minister told the National Assembly that Passco was being abolished as part of market deregulation. The policy has since been reversed under a national wheat policy, but procurement modalities remain contested.

Against this backdrop, PPP Punjab Secretary General Hassan Murtaza asked at a press conference on Wednesday who would procure wheat and under what mechanism following Passco’s “abolition”. He said farmers were at the mercy of middlemen paying below the MSP.

The remarks drew a strong response from the Punjab government. Provincial Information Minister Azma Bokhari urged the PPP leadership to take notice of Mr Murtaza’s remarks, warning the PML-N would otherwise respond in kind.

With the dust barely settled, the PPP’s leadership from Sindh has now raised fresh objections, accusing the PML-N of depriving the province’s farmers of their due rights.

“It’s a grave injustice to Sindh’s farmers and tantamount to economic exploitation of growers and haris [farm labourers],” said Mr Khuhro. “Pakistan produces about 552,000 tonnes of wheat seed annually, out of which Punjab-based seed companies account for roughly 516,000 tonnes. However, the Punjab government is reportedly preventing these companies from selling their wheat seed to Sindh.”

According to the PPP leader, Sindh’s farmers and dealers have already paid Punjab-based suppliers for the seeds, yet the supply has been blocked. He described the move as “anti-Sindh” and discriminatory against the province’s farmers.

Tags: prices, wheat, flour, stocks, food security, Punjab, restrictions