ISLAMABAD, Sept 3: The government has constituted two committees of economists to recommend measures to cope with economic challenges under the five-year development plan and prepare a roadmap for human development.

A press release issued here on Wednesday said the panel on economic challenges and the next five-year development plan would assist the planning commission in putting in place an integrated development package.

It is headed by Dr Hafiz A. Pasha, former adviser to the prime minister and currently dean of the Beaconhouse University, who will be assisted by Dr Amjad Rashid, vice-chancellor of the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE).

The panel comprises former commerce minister Dr M. Zubair Khan, former secretary planning Dr Akhtar Hassan Khan, Professor Dr Akmal Hussain, Dr Kaiser Bengali, Dr Riazuddin (Adviser, State Bank of Pakistan), Dr Naved Hamid (Director Research, Lahore School of Economics), Dr Rehana Siddiqui (Dean, PIDE), Dr Aisha Ghaus Pasha (Director Research, Institute of Public Policy, BNU), Dr Toseef Ahmed (Head, Department of Economics, Balochistan University), Dr Haris Gazdar (Executive Director, Collective for Social Science Research, Karachi), Dr Ali Cheema (Associate Professor, LUMS) and Dr Asad Sayeed (Research Collective, Karachi).

Separately, a meeting of the cabinet committee on the status of National Commission for Human Development (NCHD) recommended on Wednesday that an efficient programme should be undertaken and funded with priority for community feeder schools providing universal primary education.

The committee was informed that the NCHD had already prepared a four-year (2008-11) programme for which the US Congress would arrange funding requirements. The plan will be considered for approval by the central development working party in its meeting on Sept 18.

The meeting formed a special group headed by Faryal Talpur MNA. Its members include Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Begum Shahnaz Wazir Ali, Dr Shams Kassim Lakha, Farrokh K. Captain, Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Begum Roshan Khurshid Barocha, Dr Mushtaq A. Khan, Ejaz Rahim, Miss Nafeesa Shah MNA, Lt-Gen (retd) Muhammad Zubair (Member, Planning Commission), Khalid Idrees (Additional Secretary, Finance Division), Ahmed Owais Pirzada (Financial Adviser, Cabinet), Zulfiqar Ahmad (Chief Operating Officer, NCHD), Ms Sadiqa Salahuddin and M. Jahangir Bashar (Secretary, Education).