Only official-level meeting of Eastern Zonal Council, clarifies Home Ministry

NEW DELHI: The Union Home Ministry has clarified that the meeting on October 23 is that of the Standing Committee of Eastern Zonal Council, to be attended chief secretaries of four states and not Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
"The Standing Committee meeting of the Eastern Zonal Council is being held on October 23, 2019 in which Chief Secretaries and senior officers of 4 States and those of Government of India shall deliberate on various Centre-State & Inter-State issues. Unresolved and such other items as directed by the Chairman (Union Home Minister) shall be taken to the meeting of Eastern Zonal Council as and when it takes place," additional DG Vasudha Gupta said in an email.

The agenda of this meeting is still under preparation, though all aspects of law and order related to the zone are aimed to be covered in such meetings. Following this deliberation of the Standing Committee, officials added, a meeting of the Eastern Zonal Council chaired by the Home Minister will be planned.

Officials said sixteen Zonal Council meetings have been held in the last 5 years where more than 750 issues between States had been discussed, out of which nearly 500 have been resolved.

The four states, officials added, are also affected by Left Wing Extremism (LWE). “There are intelligence reports that Maoist are trying to regroup in Jharkhand, Bihar and Odisha. Home Secretary has been sending advisory to the States asking them to take necessary steps.”

The five Zonal Councils (Western, Eastern, Northern, Southern and Central) were set up under the States Reorganization Act, 1956 to foster Inter-State co-operation and co-ordination among the States. They are mandated to discuss and make recommendations on any matter of common interest in the field of economic and social planning, border disputes, linguistic minorities or inter-state transport.

The four eastern states have also recorded most incidents of lynching with Jharkhand and Bihar accounting for maximum cases while violent clashes have been reported between ruling TMC and BJP workers in West Bengal.

It may be recalled that Jharkhand police recently dropped murder charges against the accused involved in Tabrez Ansari lynching case but soon reinstated it after an intervention by the union home ministry.

The four states, officials added, are also affected by Left Wing Extremism (LWE). “There are intelligence reports that Maoist are trying to regroup in Jharkhand, Bihar and Odisha. Home Secretary has been sending advisory to the States asking them to take necessary steps. During the review, Shah will ask the chief minister to strengthen their measures to curb LWE,” a senior home ministry official told ET.

The five Zonal Councils (Western, Eastern, Northern, Southern and Central) were set up under the States Reorganization Act, 1956 to foster Inter-State co-operation and co-ordination among the States. They are mandated to discuss and make recommendations on any matter of common interest in the field of economic and social planning, border disputes, linguistic minorities or inter-state transport.

(This copy has been updated)