26th Meeting Of The Western Zonal Council:
Union Home Minister will chair the 26th meeting of the Western Zonal Council at Gandhinagar.
- The idea of the creation of Zonal Councils was mooted by the first Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, in 1956.
- 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, they are statutory bodies.
- The act divided the country into five zones (Northern, Central, Eastern, Western and Southern) and provided a zonal council for each zone.
- The Zonal Councils provide an excellent forum where irritants between the Centre and States and amongst States can be resolved through free and frank discussions and consultations.
- The main objectives of setting up Zonal Councils are to-
- Bring out national integration;
- Arrest the growth of acute State consciousness, regionalism, linguism and particularistic tendencies;
- Enable the Centre and the States to cooperate and exchange ideas and experiences;
- Establish a climate of cooperation amongst the States for successful and speedy execution of development projects.
- 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.
