ISLAMABAD: The ban on inter-provincial movement of wheat is on the top of the agenda of the Inter-Provincial Coordination Committee's upcoming meeting expected in the second week of May.

Sources in the Inter-Provincial Coordination Division told The News here on Tuesday that the smaller provinces wanted early convening of the meeting so that the issue of wheat movement among the provinces could be taken up and promptly addressed.

The hot issue also echoed in the upper house of parliament on Monday when the treasury and opposition senators called the ban totally unjustified and asked the authorities to focus on how to check wheat smuggling instead of banning its movement among the federating units.

The NWFP and Balochistan, feeling greatly hit by the ban, have already written to the IPCC. However, the forum can meet only after some more agenda items, which the provinces had been asked to submit, are with the IPCD.

Once the keenly-awaited meeting is summoned, the government of the Awami National Party, which is also a part of the coalition government at the Centre, is expected to give a tough time to the federal minister, who is also the minister for food, agriculture and livestock, sources said.

The role of the law-enforcement agencies, the sources pointed out, would also come under fire, as despite their sizeable presence along the border, reports of wheat and flour smuggling continue to appear in the media.

The previous IPCC, headed by Senator Salim Saifullah, in its recommendations had called for the pullout of the Frontier Constabulary from the cities and tasking them with the job they were supposed to do.

The meeting will be the first after the new ruling coalition government took over, and later Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan was given the additional charge of the division. During the PML-Nawaz government, he had been taking care of it.

Former minister Salim Saifullah, when contacted for comments on the issue of ban on wheat movement, said that it was unconstitutional as well as immoral and must be lifted immediately, as the Constitution called for free movement of goods among the federating units.

About the new IPCD minister, he wished him success and hoped that he would start the work from where they had left it as there were a number of issues among the provinces that had been resolved. Also, the IPCC recommendations on certain matters were being implemented while others needed to be resolved by the new government. Senator Saifullah hoped for early convening of the IPCC meeting to deliberate upon important issues and find amicable solutions of them.