CHANDIGARH: Union home minister Rajnath Singh will chair the 28th meeting of the Northern Zonal Council in Chandigarh on May 12. The council comprises Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Delhi and Chandigarh. Chief ministers in the zone, chief secretaries and senior officers from state and Central government will attend the meeting, where 18 items (including sub-items) will be taken up for discussion.
Five zonal councils – central, western, northern, southern and eastern – have been established under the State Reorganization Act, 1956. These councils are advisory bodies and may discuss any matter in which some or all of the states represented in the council have a common interest. They can advise the Central government and governments of states concerned on action to be taken in such matters.
In particular, a Zonal council may discuss and make recommendations on any matter of common interest in the field of economic and social planning, any matter concerning border disputes, linguistic minorities or inter-state transport and any matter connected with, or arising out of, the reorganisation of states. The zonal councils aim at discussing and resolving substantive issues of development concerning regional interest and national programmes through its consultative mechanism.