DH NEWS SERVICE
jammu, june 24
Union Minister for Home and Cooperation Amit Shah chaired the 25th meeting of the Central Zonal Council here on Tuesday.
The meeting was attended by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Shri Pushkar Singh Dhami, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav, and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Shri Vishnu Deo Sai.
At the beginning of the meeting, Amit Shah moved a resolution to commend the strong will power of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the valour of the Indian Armed Forces, which was unanimously approved by the Central Zonal Council.
In his address on the occasion, the Union home minister said that the member states of the Central Zonal Council have a crucial role to play in achieving Prime Minister Modi’s goal of building a developed India by 2047.
said the Central Zonal Council is the only zonal council where no issue or dispute exist between member states, and this is a significant achievement.
In the meeting, the home minister said while only 11 meetings of the Zonal Councils and 14 meetings of the Standing Committees of the Zonal Councils were held between 2004 and 2014, a total of 28 Zonal Council meetings and 33 Standing Committee meetings have been held between 2014 and 2025 — marking a twofold increase.
He highlighted that 1,287 issues have been resolved in these meetings so far, which is both historic and encouraging.
The home minister also urged the member states to increase the income of Gram Panchayats and to formulate rules for this purpose. He said enhancing the income of Panchayats would make India’s three-tier democratic Panchayati Raj system more effective.
A total of 19 issues were discussed in the meeting, including several matters of national importance. These included the implementation of Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs) for the speedy investigation and prompt disposal of rape cases against women and children, provision of brick-and-mortar banking facilities within the designated radius of every village, and implementation of the Emergency Response Support System (ERSS-112), among other key issues. In the meeting, the Home Minister said that all states of the Zonal Council should ensure the eradication of child malnutrition, bring the dropout ratio down to zero, and strengthen the cooperative sector. Senior ministers from the member states, the Union home secretary, the secretary of the Inter-State Council Secretariat, chief secretaries of the member states, and other senior officials from the states and Central ministries and departments also participated in the meeting.
