Shah reaches Varanasi, to chair central zonal council meet today
Varanasi: Union home minister Amit Shah on Monday arrived in Varanasi to chair the 25th Central Zonal Council meeting to be attended by chief ministers and officials of four states, on Tuesday.
Shah was welcomed by UP Chief Minister
Yogi Adityanath
at the Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport.
In a post in Hindi on X, Yogi said, "Hearty welcome to the honourable Union home and cooperation minister Shri Amit Shah ji in the holy city of Kashi, the abode of Devadidev Mahadev!"
Varanasi divisional commissioner S Rajlingam said that following the instructions of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, all preparations had been made for the meeting.
UP CM Yogi Adityanath, along with his counterparts Pushkar Singh Dhami from Uttarakhand, Mohan Yadav from Madhya Pradesh, Vishnu Deo Sai from Chhattisgarh, besides ministers and officials from these states, will participate in the meeting.
The CZC meeting is being organised by the Inter-State Council Secretariat under the ministry of home affairs, govt of India, in collaboration with the UP govt.
Five zonal councils were established under Sections 15 to 22 of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956.
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The Union home minister is the chairperson of zonal councils, and the CMs/lieutenant governors/administrators of the member states and Union Territories are their members.
Among these members, the CM 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.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has emphasised the need to leverage cooperative and competitive federalism for the all-round development of the country.
With the belief that strong states make a strong nation, the zonal councils provide a structured mechanism for dialogue and discussion on issues affecting two or more states or the Centre and states, and through this, serve as an important platform to enhance cooperation," an official said.
The zonal councils 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 swift disposal; providing banking facilities in villages; implementation of Emergency Response Support System (ERSS-112); and various regional-level issues like strengthening nutrition, education, health, electricity, urban planning, and cooperative system.
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