Amit Shah to chair central zonal council meeting in Varanasi-OxBig News Network

Home Minister Amit Shah would chair the 25th meeting of the Central Zonal Council on Tuesday in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.

The meeting would be attended by the Chief Ministers of the member states along with two senior ministers from each state.

The Central Zonal Council comprises the states of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh.

This meeting is being organised by the Inter-State Council Secretariat under the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, in collaboration with the Government of Uttar Pradesh.

The Chief Secretaries of the state governments and other senior officials, as well as senior officials from the Central Government, will also participate in the meeting.

The Union Home Minister is the chairperson of the total five Zonal Councils, and the Chief Ministers/Lieutenant Governors/Administrators of the member states and Union Territories are their members.

Among these members, the Chief Minister of one member state (rotating every year) acts as the vice-chairperson. From each member state, the Governor nominates two ministers as members of the council.

Issues proposed by the states are initially presented to the permanent committee of the concerned Zonal Council for discussion. After consideration by the permanent committee, the remaining issues are then presented to the Zonal Council meeting for further deliberation.

The Zonal Councils also discuss broad issues of national importance, including the speedy investigation of cases of sexual offenses against women and children and the implementation of Fast Track Special Courts (FTSC) for their swift disposal; providing brick-and-mortar banking facilities within the designated area of every village; implementation of the Emergency Response Support System (ERSS-112); and various regional-level common interest issues such as strengthening nutrition, education, health, electricity, urban planning, and the cooperative system.