The Zonal Councils were created vide Part-III of the States Re-Organisation Act, 1956 as a part of the scheme of the reorganisation of the States and matters connected therewith.
Section 15 of the States Reorgnization Act 1956 provides that there shall be a Zonal Council for each of the five zones of the country. The present composition of each Zonal Council is as under:
Northern Zonal Council, comprising the States of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, National Capital Territory of Delhi, Union Territory of Chandigarh, Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir and Union Territory of Ladakh.
Central Zonal Council, comprising the States of Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh;
Eastern Zonal Council, comprising the States of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal;
Western Zonal Council, comprising the States of Goa, Gujarat, Maharashtra and the Union Territory of Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu.
Southern Zonal Council, comprising the States of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and the Union Territory of Puducherry.
Structure
Section 16 (1) of the States Reorganisation Act 1956 provides that the Zonal Councils shall consist of the following members:
(a) A Union Minister to be nominated by the President.
(b) the Chief Minister of each of the States included in the zone and two other Ministers of each such State to be nominated by the Governor and if there is no Council of Ministers in any such State, three members from that State to be nominated by the President;
(c) where any Union Territory is included in the zone, not more than two members from each such territory to be nominated by the President;
2) The Union Minister nominated under clause (a) of sub-section (1) to a Zonal Council shall be its Chairman. The President has nominated Union Home Minister to be the Chairman of all the Zonal Councils.
3) The Chief Ministers of the States included in each zone shall act as Vice-Chairman of the Zonal Council for that zone by rotation, each holding office for a period of one year at a time.
Provided that if during that period there is no Council of Ministers in the State concerned, such member from that State as the President may nominate in this behalf shall act as Vice-Chairman of the Zonal Council.
4) The Zonal Council for each zone shall have the following persons as Advisers to assist the Council in the performance of its duties, namely :
(a) one person nominated by the Planning Commission (now NITI Aayog);
(b) the Chief Secretary to the Government of each of the States included in the Zone; and
(c) the Development Commissioner or any other officer nominated by the Government of each of the States included in the Zone.
Functions of the Councils:
(1) Each Zonal Council shall be an advisory body and may discuss any matter in which some or all of the States represented in that Council, or the Union and one or more of the States represented in that Council, have a common interest and advise the Central Government and the Government of each State concerned as to the action to be taken on any such matter.
(2) In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the above provisions , a Zonal Council may discuss, and make recommendations with regard to:
(a) any matter of common interest in the field of economic and social planning;
(b) any matter concerning border disputes, linguistic minorities or inter-State transport; and
(c) any matter connected with, or arising out of, the reorganisation of the States under this Act.
All Zonal Councils have constituted Standing Committees consisting of the Chief Secretaries of the member States to screen agenda items to be placed before the respective Zonal Council for discussion apart from keeping a watch on the progress of implementation of the Council’s recommendations.
The North Eastern Council
The North Eastern Council (NEC), a statutory advisory body, was established in 1971 under the North Eastern Council Act, 1971, to promote the social and economic development of the North Eastern Region, comprising eight states.
Establishment and Purpose:
The NEC was formed to address the specific needs and challenges of the North Eastern Region, which includes the states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura.
Headquarters: The NEC’s headquarters are located in Shillong, Meghalaya.
Functions: The NEC functions as an advisory body, facilitating coordination and promoting balanced and coordinated development in the region.
Composition:
The NEC comprises the Governors and Chief Ministers of the constituent states, along with three members nominated by the President.
Chairman: The Union Home Minister is the ex-officio chairman of the North Eastern Council.
Ministry:
Role in Development: The NEC plays a crucial role in promoting socio-economic development, infrastructure development, and regional connectivity in the North Eastern Region.
Amendment Act: The North Eastern Council (Amendment) Act, 2002, added Sikkim as an eighth member state and mandated the NEC to function as a regional planning body.
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