ISLAMABAD, Sept 6: Experts at a one-day seminar called for more research-based policies and programmes while formulating five-year plans for the country.

These views were expressed by experts and participants during a seminar, titled "Human Development and five years plan", organized by Sustainable Development Policy Institute, here on Monday.

The speakers called for problem-solving approach rather than only target-oriented policies. Executive Director, Mehboobul Haq Institute of Development Studies, Dr Faisal Bari, briefly discussed the two approaches of human development - the ends approach, and development as a means. He discussed the role and significance of human development and emphasized why human resource investment was important.

Referring to the unmet targets of the last nine five-year plans, he suggested devising more efficient mechanisms with sufficient time allocated for designing the plan. Dr Bari called for more research before formulating policies, and stressed that a plan should be less about targets and more about addressing problems.

Planning Division Chief Economist Dr Pervaiz Tahir, while talking about the new (10th) five-year plan, said once the approach was decided for the plan, the Planning Commission teams would go to different places to identify issues that needed attention to formulate a better policy.

He said human development took a long time and it should not be perceived as a goal that could be achieved in just five or 10 years. Dr Nawaz Hakro from the Economics Department of Quaid-i- Azam University talked about Pakistan's poor ranking on the human development index.