By Rajnish Singh

New Delhi, [India], February 21 (ANI): Union Home Minister Amit Shah will chair the 27th meeting of the Western Zonal Council in Maharashtra's Pune on Saturday to resolve disputes and promote cooperative federalism among respective members of the council.

Issues on a wide range, including infrastructure, mining, water supply, the environment and forests and state restructuring, as well as direct benefit transfer (DBT), wider expansion of telecommunications and internet and issues of general regional interest, will be raised in the meeting.

Many other issues of national importance will also be discussed in the meeting of the 27th Western Zonal Councils. These include speedy investigation of cases of sexual offence and rape against women and children, Implementation of the Scheme of Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs) for expeditious disposal of rape and POCSO Act cases, facilitation of banks and India Post Payment Bank branches within 5 kms in each village, addressing malnutrition among children through Poshan Abhiyan, reducing drop-out rate of school children, participation of government hospitals in Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana and issues of general interest at national level.

The Western Zonal Council comprises the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, and the Union Territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu. The meeting is being organised by the Inter-State Council Secretariat under the Ministry of Home Affairs, in collaboration with the Maharashtra government.

The meeting is expected to be attended by the chief ministers of the member states and the administrator of the Union Territories, along with two senior ministers from each state. The chief secretaries, advisors and other senior officers of the state governments and UTs, the Union Home Secretary, the Secretary of the Inter-State Council and other senior officers of the central government will also participate in the meeting.

The 26th meeting of the Western Zonal Council was organised on in August 2023 in Gujarat.

Five Zonal Councils were established in the year 1957 under Section 15-22 of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956. The Union Home Minister is the Chairman of these five Zonal Councils, while the Chief Ministers of the States included in the respective Zonal Council and the administrator and Lieutenant Governor of the UTs are its members. Two more ministers from each state are nominated by the Governor as members of the council. Each Zonal Council has also constituted a Standing Committee at the level of Chief Secretaries.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has stressed the need to leverage cooperative and competitive federalism for the all-round development of the country. In the spirit that strong states make strong nations, zonal councils provide a platform to enhance cooperation through a systematic mechanism for regular dialogue and discussion on issues affecting two or more states or the Center and the states.

Amit Shah has stressed the cooperative federalism approach to empower states and promote better understanding of the policy framework between the Centre and the states. He has advocated using zonal councils to resolve disputes and promote cooperative federalism. Under the chairmanship of the Union Home Minister, meetings of all five Zonal Councils were organised in 2022. (ANI)