News: The 25th meet of the Western Zonal council will be held in January. Maharashtra is the lead coordinator of the meet in 2020.
Facts:
- Zonal Councils are statutory bodies established under the States Reorganization Act, 1956.
Objectives:
- national integration
- arrest the growth of acute State regionalism, linguism and particularistic tendencies
- enable Centre and the States cooperation
- establish a climate of co-operation amongst States for the successful execution of development projects
Composition of zonal councils
- Chairman: Union Home Minister
- Vice-Chairman: Chief Ministers of the States included in each zone by each holding office for a period of one year at a time
- Members: Chief Minister and two other Ministers as nominated by the Governor from each of the States and two members from Union Territories in the zone.
Zonal Councils in India:
There are 5 Zonal Councils:
| Name | Member | Headquarter |
| North Zonal Council | Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, Delhi and Chandigarh | New Delhi |
| Central Zonal Council | Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand | Allahabad |
| Eastern Zonal Council | Bihar, Jharkhand, west Bengal and orisha | Kolkata |
| Western Zonal Council | Gujarat, Maharashtra, goa, Dabra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu | Mumbai |
| Southern Zonal Council | Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil nadu, Kerala, Puducherry | Chennai |
Additional Information:
North Eastern Council
- It was created under the North-Eastern Council Act of 1971.
- Members: Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Tripura and Sikkim.
