{"id":363252,"date":"2026-05-20T16:12:57","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T10:42:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=363252"},"modified":"2026-05-20T16:12:57","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T10:42:57","slug":"zonal-councils-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/zonal-councils-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Zonal Councils"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"content-box-green\">\n<p><strong>News: <\/strong>A high-level meeting of the Central Zonal Council took place at Jagdalpur in Chhattisgarh under Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"red-h2-box\"><strong>About Zonal Councils<\/strong><\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_363254\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-363254\" style=\"width: 424px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-363254\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Source-ResearchGate-4.jpg?resize=424%2C328&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Zonal Councils\" width=\"424\" height=\"328\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Source-ResearchGate-4.jpg?resize=300%2C232&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Source-ResearchGate-4.jpg?resize=768%2C593&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Source-ResearchGate-4.jpg?w=789&amp;ssl=1 789w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 424px) 100vw, 424px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-363254\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source &#8211; ResearchGate<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"yellow-h2-box\"><strong>Origin<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Prime Minister Nehru<\/strong> introduced the <strong>concept of zonal councils<\/strong> in <strong>1956<\/strong> during the <strong>debate on the States Reorganisation Commission report.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Legality:<\/strong> They were established under <strong>States Reorganisation Act, 1956<\/strong> as <strong>statutory (extra-constitutional) advisory bodies.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Objectives:<\/strong> It was introduced as a mechanism <strong>to promote inter-state cooperation<\/strong> and <strong>resolve issues<\/strong> arising from <strong>state linguistic reorganizations<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>These councils serve as <strong>advisory and cooperative platforms<\/strong> between states and the Centre.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 class=\"yellow-h2-box\"><strong>The 5 Zonal Councils &amp; Their Headquarters<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The country is <strong>divided into 5 zones<\/strong> to foster balanced regional development:\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Northern Zonal Council:<\/strong> Headquarters in <strong>New Delhi<\/strong> (Includes: Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu &amp; Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Delhi, Chandigarh, and Ladakh).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Central Zonal Council:<\/strong> Headquarters in <strong>Allahabad \/ Prayagraj<\/strong> (Includes: Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Eastern Zonal Council:<\/strong> Headquarters in <strong>Kolkata<\/strong> (Includes: Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, and Odisha).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Western Zonal Council:<\/strong> Headquarters in <strong>Mumbai<\/strong> (Includes: Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Dadra &amp; Nagar Haveli, and Daman &amp; Diu).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Southern Zonal Council:<\/strong> Headquarters in <strong>Chennai<\/strong> (Includes: Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Keralam, and Puducherry).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"content-box-blue\">\n<p><strong>North-Eastern Council:<\/strong> This is a <strong>distinct body<\/strong> created by a <strong>separate act <\/strong>i.e. the <strong>North Eastern Council Act, 1971. <\/strong>It includes the <strong>Northeastern states<\/strong> and its <strong>functions<\/strong> are more <strong>expansive, relating to regional planning.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"yellow-h2-box\"><strong>Composition of Zonal Councils<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Each Zonal Council<\/strong> <strong>consists of:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Union Home Minister<\/strong> \u2013 <strong>Chairman of all councils<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Chief Ministers<\/strong> of the states in a zone \u2013 Vice-Chairman (on a rotational basis for one year).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Two Ministers<\/strong> from each state \u2013 Nominated by the respective Governor.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Two representatives from Union Territories<\/strong> in the zone.<\/li>\n<li><strong>One Planning Commission<\/strong> nominee for each council.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Chief Secretaries<\/strong> and senior officials from the states.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Standing Committees<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Each council<\/strong> has a Standing Committee <strong>comprising Chief Secretaries of member states.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>These committees meet periodically to resolve issues and prepare the groundwork for council meetings.<\/li>\n<li>Representatives from Central Ministries and NITI Aayog attend based on necessity.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 class=\"yellow-h2-box\"><strong>Functions and Role of Zonal Councils<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>It acts as a platform for <strong>resolving Centre-State and inter-state disputes<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>It facilitates <strong>regional cooperation<\/strong> in economic and social planning.<\/li>\n<li>It discusses and resolves issues related to:\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Border disputes.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Linguistic minorities.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Inter-state transport<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Other <strong>matters<\/strong> under the <strong>States Reorganisation Act.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>It fosters <strong>cooperative and competitive federalism<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>News: A high-level meeting of the Central Zonal Council took place at Jagdalpur in Chhattisgarh under Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah. About Zonal Councils Origin Prime Minister Nehru introduced the concept of zonal councils in 1956 during the debate on the States Reorganisation Commission report. Legality: They were established under States Reorganisation Act,&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/zonal-councils-2\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Zonal Councils<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10393,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1566,1760,12039],"tags":[11872],"class_list":["post-363252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-factly-articles","category-polity-and-nation","category-knolls","tag-9pm-daily-factly","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10393"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=363252"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363252\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=363252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=363252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=363252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}