PESHAWAR:
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi on Monday sought Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s intervention to lift what he called “unconstitutional restrictions” on inter-provincial movement of wheat into the province, warning that the restrictions were endangering food security and fueling price distortions.
In a post on social media platform
“These limitations not only affect the province’s food security, but also go against the spirit of cooperative federalism enshrined in our Constitution,” he said, expressing confidence that the issue would be resolved “under the leadership of the prime minister.”
In the letter he shared on
He said the restrictions violated Article 151 of the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of trade, exchanges and relations between the provinces.
“Any disruption in supply risks creating artificial shortages, price escalation and public hardship,” the letter said. It added that the restrictions were “unintentionally encouraging the illegal and informal transportation of wheat through alternative means and routes, resulting in uncontrollable distortions of supply on the open market.”
“This diversion is leading to rapid escalation in wheat and flour prices, directly burdening the general public and potentially triggering unwarranted public resentment,” Kundi warned.
He asked the prime minister for “kind and immediate intervention in this matter and direction to the authorities concerned” to remove the restrictions and ensure the “uninterrupted and legally protected movement of wheat” to the province.
“I remain confident that under your leadership, the constitutional rights of the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will be safeguarded effectively and without delay,” he said. The latest development comes amid simmering tensions between provinces over controls on wheat transportation, with Punjab under fire from both KP and Sindh for allegedly strangling the flow of wheat and flour across provincial borders.
However, Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari has repeatedly rejected the allegations, maintaining that “there is no ban on inter-provincial movement of wheat” and that “the current propaganda in this regard is baseless and contrary to facts.”
In the wake of recent floods, the Punjab government had tightened its control over the movement of wheat and flour through a permit-based system aimed at containing local price increases, a move KP denounced as flour prices soared and shortages deepened. With contributions from News Desk
