Punjab’s Rs40 billion health deal needs answers

The Punjab government has set the new wheat release price at Rs3,800 per maund. This decision raises a serious question. Why is the province paying more now than it paid to its own farmers. Earlier this year, wheat growers across Punjab sold their crop at rates far lower than Rs3,800 per maund. Many farmers struggled to cover their basic costs. Fertiliser, diesel, and labour prices kept rising, but the government did not offer a fair price at harvest time. Now, months later, the same government is buying wheat from PASSCO at Rs4,150 per maund. This is imported wheat, bought at a much higher cost than what local farmers received. This gap sends a troubling message to the farming community. It tells them that growing wheat at home is less valuable than buying it from abroad. A farmer who works through the heat, spends money on seeds and water, and waits months for the harvest ends up earning less than what the state later pays for imported grain. This is not fair, and it is not sustainable. If this pattern continues, farmers may simply lose interest in wheat cultivation. Punjab is the backbone of Pakistan’s wheat production. If growers shift to other crops or leave farming altogether, the country could face a bigger crisis in the coming years. Food security cannot depend on imports alone. The federal and provincial governments must rethink this approach. Farmers need a support price that reflects their real costs and effort, announced before sowing season begins, not after imports have already been arranged. Punjab also needs to invest in storage and procurement systems so that local wheat is bought and stored efficiently, without forcing the province to rely on costlier imported stock. Protecting the price of roti for consumers is important. But that protection should not come at the cost of the farmer who grows the wheat in the first place.

Pakistan and China marked the 99th founding anniversary of China’s People’s Liberation Army at General Headquarters in Rawalpindi. Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir praised the Chinese military and called the friendship between the two nations a bond built on trust. Chinese Ambassador Jiang Zaidong thanked Pakistan for hosting the event and promised continued support under the All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership. The words on both sides were warm, and the friendship is real. It has lasted through decades of change. But warmth alone does not build an economy. Pakistan needs more than ceremonies and speeches. It needs results. China has shown the world what discipline and planning can achieve. In a few decades, it moved millions of people out of poverty. It built factories, highways, ports and technology companies that now compete with the best in the world. Pakistan should study this record closely and ask what lessons apply at home. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor was meant to be a turning point. It has delivered roads and power plants, but progress on trade, industry and jobs has been slow. Pakistan’s leaders talk often about brotherhood with China. They talk far less about learning from China’s work ethic, its focus on exports, and its long-term planning. Friendship between nations should serve the people of both countries. For Pakistan, that means turning diplomatic goodwill into factories that run, exports that grow, and jobs that last. It means learning how China trains its workers, manages its cities, and plans decades ahead instead of just one budget cycle. Pakistan and China have a friendship worth celebrating. But the next chapter of this relationship must move beyond guards of honour and official statements. It must bring real economic change to ordinary Pakistanis.

Arshad Nadeem remains one of the finest athletes Pakistan has ever produced, and one disappointing outing in Glasgow cannot erase that fact. His early exit from the Commonwealth Games javelin event has understandably worried fans, but this is a moment for support, not despair. Every great athlete faces setbacks. What matters is how they respond. Former coach Fayyaz Hussain Bukhari has raised a valid point about fitness levels ahead of the Glasgow event. He noted that Nadeem did not appear to have the same intensity he showed during earlier training sessions under his guidance. Bukhari, who worked closely with Nadeem for eight years and helped him reach the Tokyo Olympics, believes physical preparation is the foundation of success in any sport. He also called for regular fitness testing before athletes compete internationally, a suggestion authorities should take seriously. It is worth remembering that Nadeem has already given Pakistan its proudest sporting moment. His gold medal throw of 92.97 metres at the Paris Olympics in 2024 remains a historic achievement that will be remembered for generations. A single poor performance in Glasgow does not undo that legacy. Sport, by nature, involves highs and lows, and no athlete performs at their peak every single time. Bukhari believes Nadeem does not need another extraordinary throw to prove himself. He has already shown the world what he is capable of. What he needs now is to refocus, correct small mistakes and rebuild his mindset. This is completely achievable for an athlete of his caliber. Questions raised about coordination between Nadeem, his current coach Salman Butt and the Athletics Federation of Pakistan deserve honest attention. Stronger cooperation between all parties can only help Nadeem perform better on the international stage. This is the time for Pakistan to stand behind Arshad Nadeem, not criticize him. Defeat is part of every sportsperson’s journey, and true champions are defined by how they bounce back. 

The Combined Competitive Examination 2024 was meant to open doors for young Sindh residents seeking government careers. Instead, it has become a symbol of broken trust. Out of more than 4,300 candidates who sat the exam, only 70 passed. This low number alone raised serious doubts. When detailed marks sheets came out, those doubts turned into anger. Candidates found strange errors in their results. A single 100-mark paper in criminology appeared as two papers worth 200 marks. A similar problem showed up in environmental science. These are not small clerical slips. They point to deeper flaws in how the Sindh Public Service Commission handled this process. The protests that followed are justified. Students did not just complain online. They organised sit-ins. They held rallies. They formed the Movement for Restoration of Meritocracy. Their demands are simple and fair. They want the exam cancelled. They want a fresh test conducted properly. They want an independent inquiry into how the SPSC has handled recruitment over the past five years. The legal battle adds another layer of concern. The Sindh High Court suspended the results and asked the SPSC to produce full records. That was a reasonable step toward accountability. But the Federal Constitutional Court later suspended those orders, allowing interviews for the 70 successful candidates to continue. This leaves thousands of young people without answers while the process moves forward around them. This newspaper believes the SPSC owes these candidates transparency, not silence. A spokesperson refusing to comment while the matter sits in court is not good enough. Public institutions exist to serve citizens fairly. When thousands of young people spend years preparing for an exam, they deserve a system they can trust. Sindh’s youth are not asking for special treatment. They are asking for merit to be respected. The government and the SPSC must treat this seriously. An independent judicial inquiry would help restore public confidence. Anything less will only deepen the belief that government jobs go to the connected, not the capable. Young people who play by the rules deserve a system that does the same.

The country is having an important conversation again. Should the country create new provinces to fix its governance problems? Or should it strengthen local governments and give real power to mayors instead? Federal Minister Mohsin Naqvi recently argued that the current system of governance has become outdated. He warned that without real reform, Pakistan will still face the same problems ten years from now. He is right that something needs to change. Large provinces, especially Punjab, are simply too big to manage efficiently from one provincial capital. But former State Bank Governor Dr Ishrat Hussain offers an important word of caution. He points out that creating new provinces means building an entirely new layer of bureaucracy. Each new province needs its own secretariat, its own cabinet, its own departments, its own buildings and vehicles. All of this adds permanent, recurring costs to a country that is already struggling with debt and financial pressure. Creating a new province does not solve a problem. It often creates an expensive new one. Dr Ishrat Hussain’s proposed solution deserves serious attention. He suggests that instead of drawing new provincial boundaries, Pakistan should strengthen mayoral systems and local governments in every major city. If cities like Lahore, Karachi and Faisalabad were given real financial and administrative powers, with elected mayors controlling budgets and development projects, this could fix governance problems without the heavy cost of new provincial structures. His argument makes sense. The real issue is not how many provinces Pakistan has. The real issue is that power has never properly reached the local level, where problems are actually felt and solved. This is a reasonable middle path. Strengthening city governments should be the first priority. Giving elected mayors genuine control over budgets, infrastructure and daily administration would bring government closer to the people it serves, without adding new layers of expensive bureaucracy. That said, there may still be a limited case for new provinces where genuine historical, linguistic and administrative grounds exist. Punjab is an unusually large province, and two regions within it, the Seraiki belt in the south and the Potohar region in the north, have long-standing and distinct identities, dialects and development needs that differ from central Punjab. If any new provinces are ever created, these two are the most defensible candidates, since they rest on real cultural and administrative logic rather than short-term political convenience. But this should remain the exception, not the rule.

The suicide bombing at Kabal Police Station in Swat has claimed 17 lives. Seven police officials  and 10 civilians were martyred in this attack. More than 23 injured people are still fighting for their lives in hospitals. We pray for their speedy recovery. This attack was not just on a police station. It was an attack on the peace of an entire community. The people of Swat have already suffered greatly from terrorism in the past. They rebuilt their lives after years of conflict. They deserved better than this bloodshed. Markets closed across Kabal as residents mourned their dead. This attack must be condemned in the strongest possible terms. The bomber used between six and eight kilograms of explosives. Police officers showed real courage. They stopped the bomber from reaching his main target. Their bravery saved many more lives. These officers deserve recognition, not just words of praise. Their families deserve the full compensation that has been promised to them, delivered without delay. The formation of a Joint Investigation Team is a necessary step. Investigators must move quickly and use every modern tool available to find those responsible. But investigation alone is not enough. Pakistan needs a sustained and serious campaign against terrorism, not scattered responses after each tragedy. Chief Minister Muhammad Suhail Khan Afridi used this moment to blame federal security policies. This kind of political point scoring serves no one right now. Terrorism is a threat to the entire country. It cannot be treated as a provincial problem or a political weapon. What Khyber Pakhtunkhwa needs is genuine cooperation between the provincial and federal governments, not finger pointing while bodies are still being buried. The Rs20 billion allocation for police capacity is a welcome move. But money alone will not defeat this threat. Pakistan needs unity among political parties, religious leaders, security forces, and ordinary citizens. Terrorists thrive on division. They exploit political blame games and public distrust. Every time leaders turn a tragedy into a political argument, they hand terrorists a small victory. The victims of Kabal deserve more than condolences. They deserve a state that protects its citizens and brings the guilty to justice without delay. They deserve leaders who put aside politics and work together against a common enemy. Pakistan has defeated terrorism before through unity and sacrifice. It must find that same resolve again. Swat has bled too many times. This must be the last time.