Home Minister Amit Shah chairs Southern Zonal Council meet in Kerala

30th Southern Zonal Council Meeting: Union Home Minister Amit Shah recently inaugurated the 30th Southern Zonal Council meeting of South Indian States and Union Territories in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

The Southern Zonal Council comprises Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and the Union Territory of Puducherry.
The meeting was attended by the Chief Ministers of Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, the Lieutenant Governors of Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the Administrator of Lakshadweep, Chief Secretaries of Southern Zonal Council States, Union Home Secretary, Secretary Inter-State Council Secretariat and other Senior officials of State and Central Ministries and Departments.
As per the established procedure and practice, the zonal council meeting is preceded by a standing committee of the council, in which the agenda items to be placed before the council are scrutinised and prioritised.

Key Points of the Meet:

A total of 26 issues were discussed in this meeting in which 09 issues were resolved, 17 issues were put up for further consideration, out of which 09 issues related to the reorganization of Andhra Pradesh.

The Home Minister urged Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to mutually resolve their pending issues saying it will not only benefit the people of their States but also lead to all-round development of the entire Southern region.
He also called upon all States of the Southern Zonal Council to explore a joint solution to the issues related to the sharing of waters.
He added that in the 12th meeting of its Standing Committee, a total of 89 issues were discussed and out of these 63 issues were settled by mutual agreement which is a significant achievement.
He also outlined the main objectives of the zonal council meeting which are -

Amicable settlement of disputes between the Centre and the States and inter-State through mutual agreement,
Promotion of regional cooperation between States,
Providing a forum for all States to brainstorm on issues of common national importance and
Setting up a collaboration system for strengthening cooperation among all stakeholders.

He also thanked the countrymen for rising above their State affiliations, caste, and religion and set an excellent example of unity and patriotism by hoisting the tricolour in their homes under the Har Ghar Tiranga campaign.
He highlighted the change in the nature of the zonal councils under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that the number of meetings has increased.
He pointed out that before 2014, the zonal councils used to have an average of two meetings in a year, which this government has increased to 2.7. On average, the Standing Committees used to have 1.4 sittings, this government has also almost doubled this to 2.75.
Prior to 2014, the percentage of issues resolved in the meetings of the Zonal Councils was 43, now it has increased to 64 per cent.
He further stressed that a total of 555 issues were discussed between 2014 and 2022 with 64 per cent of these were resolved by mutual consent as compared to 104 between 2006 and 2013.
He also pointed out that the villages that carry out fishing across the coastline have immense potential for increasing trade and export of marine products.
He also listed the Sagarmala project and various schemes for the upgradation of major ports for the development of coastal states.
Out of these, 108 projects worth Rs 76,000 crore have been completed while 98 projects worth Rs 13,2000 crore are under implementation. Thus in total projects worth more than Rs 2,00,000 crore are being implemented under Sagarmala for coastal States,
He said that the Home Ministry has tried a crackdown on the problem of narcotics. QR-enabled PVC Aadhar cards which have been given to more than 12 lakh fishermen will not only give recognition to the fishermen of the coastal States but will also strengthen coastal security.
He further added that the States should hold regular meetings of ‘the Narco Coordination Centre (NCORD) and take them to the district level.
He stated that with an aim to increase the conviction rate, the ministry has prepared a policy for establishing forensic science labs.

About Zonal Council:

Zonal Councils are advisory councils and are made up of the states of India that have been grouped into five zones to foster cooperation among them.
In the light of the vision of Pandit Nehru, five Zonal Councils were set up vide Part-III of the States Re-organisation Act, 1956 (hence it is not a constitutional body).
They are Northern, Western, Eastern, Central and Southern.
The Union home minister is the chairman of each of these five zonal councils and the chief minister of the host state (to be chosen by rotation every year) is the vice-chairman.
Two more ministers from each state are nominated as members by the governor.

Role and objectives of Zonal Councils:

The Zonal Councils provide an excellent forum where irritants between Centre and States and amongst States can be resolved through free and frank discussions and consultations.
Being advisory bodies, there is full scope for free and frank exchange of views in their meetings.
The meetings of the zonal councils are used by the states and UTs to share their best practices.
Since their inception in 1957, the Zonal Councils have met 106 times.

The main objectives of setting up of Zonal Councils are as under:

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 the Council:

Each Zonal Council is an advisory body and may discuss any matter in which some or all of the States represented in that Council, or the Union and one or more of the States represented in that Council, have a common interest and advise the Central Government and the Government of each State concerned as to the action to be taken on any such matter.
The councils discuss broad range of issues which include boundary-related disputes, security, infrastructure-related matters like road, transport, industries, water, and power, matters pertaining to forests and environment, housing, education, food security, tourism, transport and any matter connected with or arising out of, the re-organization of the States under the State’s Reorganisation Act. etc.

Composition of Zonal Councils:

The present composition of each of these Zonal Councils is as under:

The Northern Zonal Council, comprising the States of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, National Capital Territory of Delhi and Union Territory of Chandigarh;
The Central Zonal Council, comprising the States of Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh;
The Eastern Zonal Council, comprising the States of Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Sikkim and West Bengal;
The Western Zonal Council, comprising the States of Goa, Gujarat, Maharashtra and the Union Territories of Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli;
The Southern Zonal Council, comprising the States of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Puducherry.

Note:

North Eastern states are not included in these five regional councils.
Their special problems are looked after by the North Eastern Council established under the North Eastern Council Act, 1972.
This council originally comprised Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura; later the state of Sikkim was also added vide North Eastern Council (Amendment) Act, 2002 notified on 23 December 2002.
It is also chaired by the Union Home Minister.
The union territories of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep are not members of any of the Zonal Councils.
However, they are presently special invitees to the Southern Zonal Council.