States discuss issues of river water sharing, women’s safety, fast-track courts with Home Minister during a meeting of the Northern Zonal Council

States discuss issues of river water sharing, women’s safety, fast-track courts with Home Minister during a meeting of the Northern Zonal Council

Subject :Polity

Section: Federalism

• Amit Shah on Thursday unveiled the ‘Statue of Peace’ of philosopher and social reformer Ramanujacharya in Sonawar

What are Zonal Councils?

About:

• Zonal Councils are the statutory (and not the constitutional) bodies.
• They are established by an Act of the Parliament, that is, States Reorganisation Act of 1956.
• The act divided the country into five zones- Northern, Central, Eastern, Western and Southern and provided a zonal council for each zone.
• In addition to the above mentioned Zonal Councils, a North-Eastern Council was created by a separate Act of Parliament, the North-Eastern Council Act of 1971.
• Its members include Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Tripura and Sikkim.
• These are advisory bodies that make recommendations with regard to any matter of common interest

Organizational Structure:

Chairman: The Union Home Minister is the Chairman of each of these Councils.

Vice Chairman: The Chief Ministers of the States included in each zone act as Vice-Chairman of the Zonal Council for that zone by rotation, each holding office for a period of one year at a time.

Members: Chief Minister and two other Ministers as nominated by the Governor from each of the States and two members from Union Territories included in the zone.

Advisers: One person nominated by the Planning Commission (now NITI Aayog) for each of the Zonal Councils, Chief Secretaries and another officer/Development Commissioner nominated by each of the States included in the Zone.

Objectives:

• Bringing out national integration.
• Arresting the growth of acute State consciousness, regionalism, linguism and particularistic tendencies.
• Enabling the Centre and the States to co-operate and exchange ideas and experiences.
• Establishing a climate of co-operation amongst the States for successful and speedy execution of development projects.

Functions of the Councils:

• Any matter of common interest in the field of economic and social planning,
• Any matter concerning border disputes, linguistic minorities or inter-State transport,
• Any matter connected with or arising out of, the reorganization of the States under the States Reorganisation Act.