Amit Shah To Preside Over Eastern Zonal Council Meeting in Ranchi ; security tightened.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah is scheduled to chair the Eastern Zonal Council meeting in Ranchi on July 10 in which about 70 representatives from the four eastern states -- Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha and West Bengal -- are expected to participate, an official said on Wednesday.

Security has been beefed up in Ranchi in view of the meeting and Shah is scheduled to arrive in the state capital on Wednesday evening.

Under Sections 15 to 22 of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, five zonal councils were established in the country.

The Union home minister is the chairperson of these five zonal councils, and the chief ministers/lieutenant governors/administrators of the member states and Union territories are the members.

"Massive security arrangements have been made in the state capital in view of the Eastern Zonal Council meeting here tomorrow, to be chaired by the Home Minister," the official said.

The zonal councils take up many important issues including discussing broad issues of national importance such as the speedy investigation of cases of sexual offences against women and children, 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 and various regional-level common interest issues such as strengthening nutrition, education, health, electricity, urban planning, and the cooperative system, the official added.

From Jharkhand, Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Finance Minister Radhakrishna Kishore, Minister Deepak Birua, Chief Secretary Alka Tiwari, Principal Secretary (Home) Vandana Dadel, and DGP Anurag Gupta are likely to attend the meeting.

Bihar is likely to be represented by ministers Vijay Choudhary and Samrat Choudhary, the official said, adding, Odisha's delegation may include Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and Deputy CM Parvati Parida while West Bengal is likely to be represented by Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya.

Jharkhand, among other matters, is likely to raise the issue of Rs 1.36 lakh crore pending dues from PSUs such as Coal India in view of mining.

Ranchi Police have already issued a traffic advisory prohibiting auto-rickshaws between Birsa Chowk and Sujata Chowk on July 10.

Besides, the entry of goods vehicles into city limits will remain restricted from 6 am to 10 pm on the day.The meeting was originally scheduled for May 10 but was postponed in view of the India-Pakistan tense situation then.

As per the government, the chief minister of one member state (rotating every year) acts as the vice-chairperson while the governor nominates two ministers as members of the council from each member state.

Each zonal council has also formed a permanent committee at the level of chief secretaries. Issues proposed by the states are initially presented to the permanent committee of the concerned zonal council for discussion, officials said. After consideration by the permanent committee, the remaining issues are then presented to the zonal council meeting for further deliberation.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasised the need to leverage cooperative and competitive federalism for the all-round development of the country, they said.

With a belief that strong states make a strong nation, the zonal councils provide a structured mechanism for dialogue and discussion on issues affecting two or more states or the Centre and states, and through this, serve as an important platform to enhance mutual cooperation, they added.

The role of the zonal councils is advisory; however, over the past few years, these councils have proven to be an important factor in promoting healthy bonds of mutual understanding and cooperation in various fields.More than 60 meetings of the various zonal councils and their permanent committees have been held in the last eleven years.