Amit Shah to chair Northern Zonal Council meeting in Faridabad on Monday

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will on Monday chair the 32^nd meeting of the Northern Zonal Council in Haryana’s Faridabad, where issues like education, health, electricity, speedy investigation of cases of sexual offences against women and children, among others, are likely to be discussed.

The Northern Zonal Council comprises the states and Union territories of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Chandigarh.

Chief ministers, lieutenant governors, senior officials from the central and state governments and Union territories will participate in the meeting.

The zonal councils provide an excellent forum for resolving and progressing issues and disputes between the Centre and the member states and Union territories, among the member states and Union territories, and within the zone, an official statement said.

The zonal council will discuss broad issues of national importance, including the speedy investigation of cases of sexual offences 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), the statement said.

Various regional-level common interest issues, such as strengthening nutrition, education, health, electricity, urban planning, and the cooperative system will also be discussed in the meeting, which will be held on the outskirts of the national capital.

The Northern Zonal Council is among the five zonal councils established under sections 15 to 22 of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956.

The Union home minister is the chairperson of the Northern Zonal Council and the chief minister of Haryana is its vice-chairperson.

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.

Each Zonal Council has also formed a permanent committee at the level of chief secretaries.

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.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given the vision of ‘TEAM BHARAT’ and the zonal councils have been significantly contributing in this direction, the statement said.

The role of the zonal councils is advisory. However, over the past few years, these councils have proven to be an important factor in promoting healthy bonds of mutual understanding and cooperation in various fields.

With the cooperation of all state governments, central ministries and departments, a total of 63 meetings of the various zonal councils and their permanent committees have been held in the last 11 years, the statement said.