ISLAMABAD: Planning Commission, which faces an uphill task of preparing five-year plan (2013-18) and ‘Vision Pakistan 2025’, is working only with one member. The government is yet to appoint the remaining 10 members.

According to Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms Ahsan Iqbal, the government could not find suitable persons to fill the vacant posts despite advertising. He said this was because of brain drain of professionals and specialists to foreign countries.

Mr Iqbal – who wants to restructure the commission into a think tank for sound planning in all sectors – said he believed merit would be the key in the selection process.

Addressing a press conference, he revealed that the government was not satisfied with the quality of applications received so far.

A senior economist, when asked to comment on the crisis facing the Planning Commission, made it clear that the government could not find members by advertising the posts.

He said the commission needed experienced professionals, who do not respond to vacancy announcements as they were already performing in key institutions in the private sector.

Unless the right people are approached, offered deserving benefits and the required environment, the government would not succeed in fulfilling the posts, he added.

According to the commission’s website, the only member currently working is Mohammad Javed Malik, who is looking after food security and climate change.

The vacant positions are in areas such as governance; innovation and reforms; development communication; infrastructure and connectivity; science and technology; implementation and monitoring; chief economist in charge of economic policy and planning; energy; social sectors and devolution; and private sector development.

The commission needs experienced professionals to finalise the five-year plan supposed to be launched this year. Moreover, a lot of work has to be done for devising a plan of action on ‘Pakistan Vision 2025’ plan.

The planning commission also lacks a forum to make follow-ups to a number of agreements signed recently between Pakistan and China. An important project is the setting up of the China-Pakistan economic corridor for which a joint cooperation committee has already been set up.

Mr Iqbal has announced to hold a ‘One Thousand Stakeholders’ conference in Islamabad on Oct 26 to initiate a national-level broad consultative process to solicit inputs from political parties, academia, professionals, civil society for the mega planning document of ‘Pakistan Vision 2025’.

The minister said that Mr Sharif, who is chairman of the commission, would inaugurate the conference. But doubts have been raised about prime minister’s availability in the conference as he will be in the United States on Oct 23 for his first meeting with US President Barack Obama.