Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi has appealed to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for “immediate intervention” against what he described as unconstitutional restrictions on the inter-provincial movement of wheat to his province.
In a letter shared publicly on social media platform X, Kundi said Punjab’s decision to regulate wheat and flour shipments through a permit-based system “prima facie contravenes Article 151 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, which guarantees freedom of trade, commerce and intercourse among the provinces.”
The controversy stems from measures Punjab introduced following recent floods to control domestic price hikes. Officials there insist the move aims to stabilise local markets, while authorities in K-P and Sindh accuse Punjab of choking supply lines and breaching the spirit of cooperative federalism.
Kundi noted that the restrictions had already pushed flour prices to alarming levels — around Rs 1,200 per 20 kg bag in Punjab and up to Rs 2,800 in K-P — creating an “unbearable burden on families already struggling with inflation.” He recalled that the K-P Assembly unanimously passed a resolution denouncing the curbs after prices spiked by 68 percent, urging the federal government to uphold free trade between provinces.
According to official correspondence, K-P consumes about 5.3 million tonnes of wheat and flour annually but produces only 1.5 million tonnes locally, sourcing the remainder mainly from Punjab. The province requires roughly 14,500 tonnes per day, but Punjab’s current 2,000-tonne allocation under the permit system has been deemed “grossly inadequate” by Peshawar officials.
The issue was previously discussed at a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on October 17, where representatives from K-P and the Flour Mills Association warned of worsening stock shortages if restrictions persisted.
Despite a national wheat policy approved earlier this month that explicitly states inter-provincial movement will not be restricted, Punjab authorities maintain there is no formal ban, saying they are merely monitoring “unusual” wheat flows through checkpoints.
Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari reiterated this stance on Sunday, calling reports of a ban “baseless and misleading.”
Meanwhile, Sindh’s PPP leadership has also criticised Punjab for limiting wheat seed supply, echoing concerns raised by K-P officials who argue the curbs violate both constitutional guarantees and a recent deregulation agreement.
Governor Kundi cautioned that these measures are “encouraging illegal trade and hoarding within the province,” further aggravating shortages. He stressed that “Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa is a wheat-deficient province and depends substantially on inter-provincial inflows to meet its essential food requirements.”
