Amit Shah to chair Northern Zonal Council meeting

New Delhi: Union Home minister Amit Shah will on Monday chair the 32nd meeting of the Northern Zonal Council in Haryana’s Faridabad, where issues like education, health, electricity, speedy investigation of cases of sexual offences against women and children, among others, are likely to be discussed.

The Northern Zonal Council comprises the states and Union territories of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Chandigarh.

Chief ministers, lieutenant governors, senior officials from the Central and state governments and Union territories will participate in the meeting.

The zonal councils provide an excellent forum for resolving and progressing issues and disputes between the Centre and the member states and Union territories, among the member states and Union territories, and within the zone, an official statement said.

The zonal council will discuss broad issues of national importance, including the speedy investigation of cases of sexual offences against women and children and the implementation of Fast Track Special Courts (FTSC) for their swift disposal, providing brick-and-mortar banking facilities within the designated area of every village, implementation of the Emergency Response Support System (ERSS-112), the statement said.

Various regional-level common interest issues, such as strengthening nutrition, education, health, electricity, urban planning, and the cooperative system will also be discussed in the meeting, which will be held on the outskirts of the national capital.

The Northern Zonal Council is among the five zonal councils established under sections 15 to 22 of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956.

The Union home minister is the chairperson of the Northern Zonal Council and the chief minister of Haryana is its vice-chairperson.