30th Southern Zonal Council Meeting

September 6, 2022

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

Key Points

A total of 26 issues were discussed in this meeting, 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 meeting was attended by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, chief ministers and ministers from other southern states – Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana – and lieutenant governors of the southern union territories of Puducherry, Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

The main objectives of the meeting of the Zonal Council are –

To encourage regional cooperation between states, to resolve disputes and issues between the Center and the states by consensus
To provide a platform to all the states of the country to discuss issues of common national importance.
Establish a strong collaboration mechanism among all stakeholders

About Zonal Councils

Zonal Councils were established under the States Reorganization Act, 1956 (hence it is not a constitutional body) to promote inter-state cooperation and coordination among states.
At present, there are a total of five Zonal Councils. Northern, Western, Eastern, Central and Southern.
They are regional forums of cooperative effort for states that are geographically, economically and culturally connected to each other.
Zonal Councils provide the basis for a general meeting for states to promote and facilitate coordinated efforts to promote economic and social development.
They have been mandated to discuss and make recommendations on matters of general interest in the field of economic and social planning, linguistic minorities, border disputes and inter-state transport etc.

Note: North Eastern states are not included in these five Zonal Councils. Their special problems are looked after by the North Eastern Council established under the North Eastern Council Act, 1972. It is also chaired by the Union Home Minister.

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