New Delhi, 19 August (H.S.): Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah will chair the 31st meeting of the Southern Zonal Council in Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu, on Thursday. The council comprises the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana, along with the Union Territories of Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Lakshadweep.

According to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, five Zonal Councils were established in the country under Sections 15 to 22 of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956. The Union Home Minister serves as the chairperson of the Southern Zonal Council, while the Chief Minister of one of the member states serves as its vice-chairperson. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay will serve as the vice-chairperson this time.

The meeting is being organised by the Inter-State Council Secretariat under the Ministry of Home Affairs and is being hosted by the Tamil Nadu government. Chief Ministers, Lieutenant Governors, Administrators, two senior ministers from each member state, chief secretaries and other senior officials from the participating states and Union Territories will attend the meeting.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has put forward the concept of Team India based on cooperative federalism, with the Zonal Councils playing an important role in advancing this approach. The councils provide a platform for dialogue and cooperation between the Centre and the states. Under Modi’s leadership, meetings of the councils have increasingly emerged as an effective mechanism for resolving issues through dialogue.

The Ministry said that during the past 12 years since June 2014, a total of 69 meetings of various Zonal Councils and their standing committees have been held. The councils discuss not only disputes and issues between states but also matters of national importance, including the speedy investigation of crimes against women and children, establishment of fast-track special courts, education-related issues, matters concerning the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, water-sharing projects, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin and issues related to civil aviation.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar