ISLAMABAD, Aug 8: The government announced on Friday appointment of four advisers to the Planning Commission.

The advisers are: Dr Ishfaq Ahmad, Dr Ishrat Hussain, Ms Khadija Haq and Dr Shoaib Sultan.

Dr Ishfaq will be full-time adviser with the status of minister of state.

The other three will work on an honorary basis, with no salary or perks.

Some new members for the commission are also likely to be appointed soon.

Dr Ishfaq Ahmad, PhD in Physics from the University of Montreal, worked as special adviser to the prime minister from 2001 to 2007 and special assistant to the prime minister in 2007-08.

He was chairman of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission from 1991 to 2001. He has also been a member of the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Dr Ishrat Hussain, PhD in Economics from the Boston University, has worked as governor of the State Bank and headed the National Commission on Government Reforms. He has served as director at the World Bank as chief economist for East Asian and Pacific Region. Currently he is dean and director of the Institute of Business Administration.

Shoaib Sultan Khan has worked as senior adviser to the United Nations Development Programme, senior adviser on rural development to the Aga Khan Foundation and general manager of the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme.

He was senior project officer of Unicef’s Social Development Programme in Colombo and consultant of the United Nations Centre for Regional Development, Nagoya, in Japan.

Ms Khadija Haq, a post-graduate in Economics from Harvard, has vast experience in research with emphasis on human resource development.

She looked after publication of the Human Development Report on South Asia for a number of years.

Currently she is president of the Mahbub-ul-Haq Human Development Centre.