Pokhara, July 27

Gandaki Province Cabinet today appointed Giridhari Sharma Poudel as the vice-chair of the province’s Planning Commission.

Spokesperson for the provincial government Ram Sharan Basnet said two members were to be appointed to give complete shape to the commission. Of the two members, one has to be female. Poudel is a planning and development expert.

Poudel, 58, of Bangsing, Syangja, holds MSc degree and PhD in Development Planning from Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand. He was the director at Family Planning Association of Nepal. He had also served at United Nations Development Programme. He is currently working as national project manager of National Planning Monitoring, Evaluation and Capacity Strengthening Project.

Poudel said he would assume his new responsibility once his resignation was approved. “Since the province government has just started its work, I will focus on the formulation of economic planning and its implementation.”