Home Minister has recently chaired the meeting of southern zonal council.
About Zonal Councils:
The idea of creation of Zonal Councils was first mooted by the first Prime Minister of India, Pandit JawaharLal Nehru in 1956.
Zonal Councils in India
Northern Zonal Council: Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, National Capital Territory of Delhi and Union Territory of Chandigarh.
Central Zonal Council: Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
Eastern Zonal Council: Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Sikkim and West Bengal.
Western Zonal Council: Goa, Gujarat, Maharashtra and the Union Territories of Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli.
Southern Zonal Council: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Puducherry.
The North Eastern States i.e. (i) Assam (ii) Arunachal Pradesh (iii) Manipur (iv) Tripura (v) Mizoram (vi) Meghalaya and (vii) Nagaland are not included in the Zonal Councils and their special problems are looked after by the North Eastern Council, set up under the North Eastern Council Act, 1972
Organization Structure of Zonal Councils:
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.
Objectives of the Zonal Councils:
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 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 re-organization of the States under the States Reorganisation Act.
