KARACHI: As consumers continue to pay inflated prices for various flour types, millers have accused the Punjab government of creating an artificial wheat and flour crisis by imposing a ban under Section 144 on the inter-provincial movement of wheat and related products.

The Pakistan Flour Mills Association (PFMA) South Zone argued that such restrictions contradict the wheat deregularisation policy and violate Article 151 of the Constitution, which allows the free movement of goods across provinces. The association warned that provincial-level curbs inevitably lead to nationwide disruptions.

PFMA South Zone Chairman Abdul Junaid Aziz, in a letter to Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Rana Tanveer Hussain on Tuesday, said the ban had placed wheat stocks worth billions of rupees at risk in Punjab, especially in the wake of recent floods. The restriction also deprives consumers in other provinces of access to lower-priced flour.

He noted that Punjab accounts for 70pc of the country’s wheat output, making other provinces heavily dependent on its surplus. “We are a single nation. Our joys and sorrows are shared. Such measures damage national unity,” Aziz stated, calling on the federal government to intervene immediately.

He warned that the stored wheat in flood-affected areas could be destroyed if not moved promptly to safer locations in other provinces. “The Punjab government is taking a heavy risk by blocking the movement of wheat, endangering national food security and increasing financial losses to the exchequer,” he said.

Aziz added that Punjab currently holds sufficient surplus wheat stocks and there is no justifiable reason for the movement ban.

Chaudhry Aamir Abdullah, Central Executive Member of PFMA South, proposed that the government either lift the inter-provincial movement restrictions or allow the private sector to import one million tonnes of wheat to avoid an imminent wheat and flour crisis.

He noted that the Punjab government had set up checkpoints at exit routes and motorway interchanges to monitor and block the transport of wheat and flour to other provinces.Millers warned that failure to act swiftly could lead to a severe flour shortage and further price hikes in the coming months.

Published in Dawn, September 3rd, 2025