Union Home Minister Amit Shah will chair the 28th meeting of the Western Zonal Council in Goa’s Panaji on Monday, according to a press release by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The meeting is being organised by the Inter-State Council Secretariat of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and hosted by the Goa government.
The Western Zonal Council comprises Goa, Gujarat and Maharashtra, along with the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. Five zonal councils, including the Western Zonal Council, were established under sections 15 to 22 of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956.
The Zonal Council comprises the Chief Ministers of each State in the Western region and two senior Ministers from each State as members. Senior officers from the Government of India and the State Governments/Union Territories will also participate in the meeting of the Council.
HM Shah is the chairman of the Western Zonal Council, while the Goa Chief Minister is its current vice-chairman. The vice-chairmanship rotates annually among the chief ministers of the member states.
The council has a Standing Committee at the level of chief secretaries.
Issues proposed by the states are first discussed by the committee. Matters that remain unresolved after the deliberations are then placed before the Zonal Council for consideration.
Although their role is advisory, the councils have emerged as an important platform for mutual understanding and cooperation across sectors.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has envisioned TEAM BHARAT for the country based on the principle of cooperative federalism, and the Zonal Councils are making an important contribution in this direction,” stated the press release.
It said the Prime Minister has emphasised the need to harness the potential of cooperative and competitive federalism to achieve all-round development.
With the principle that strong states make a strong nation, the councils provide a structured mechanism for dialogue on issues affecting two or more states or involving the Centre and the states, it said.
Seventy meetings of various zonal councils and their standing committees have been held over the last 12 years, from June 2014 to date.
The councils address disputes and issues between the Centre and the member states or Union Territories, as well as matters among the member states and issues concerning their regions.
The discussions also cover national issues, including speedy investigation of rape cases involving women and children and the implementation of Fast Track Special Courts; Emergency Response Support System (ERSS-112); food safety standards; brick-and-mortar banking facilities within a designated radius of every village; nutrition, education and health; power sector reforms; urban planning; strengthening the cooperative system; cybercrime; and digital infrastructure.
-with inputs from PTI & PIB
