25th meeting of the Central Zonal Council

Why in news?

• The 25th meeting of the Central Zonal Council was held in Varanasi city of Uttar Pradesh.
• The meeting was chaired by Shri Amit Shah, Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, India.

Key issues discussed in the meeting

• The establishment of fast track courts to deal with rape cases against women was discussed in the meeting.
• The establishment of bank branches in the designated area of ​​​​villages was considered.
• The status of effective implementation of the Emergency Response Support System was discussed.
• Apart from this, 16 other issues were also discussed, which were related to regional development and coordination of states.

Regional Councils in India:

• The proposal for regional councils was put forward by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in the year 1956.
• Five regional councils were established in India under the State Reorganization Act, 1956.
• Later, a separate regional council was established for the northeastern states under the North Eastern Council Act, 1971.
• Objective of establishment
  • The main objective of the regional councils was to strengthen national unity.
  • Their objective was also to prevent state identity, regionalism, linguisticism and separatist tendencies.
  • Thus, at present a total of six regional councils are functioning in India.
• Regional councils of India and their member states
  • The Northern Regional Council includes Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Chandigarh.
  • The Central Regional Council includes the states of Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh.
  • The Eastern Regional Council includes West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa (Odisha) and Sikkim.
  • The Western Regional Council includes Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa and the Union Territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli.
  • The Southern Zonal Council comprises the Union Territories of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
  • The North Eastern Council comprises the states of Manipur, Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Sikkim, Nagaland and Tripura.
• All Zonal Councils are chaired by the Union Home Minister of India.
• These councils are advisory bodies and their recommendations are not binding on the government.