Chandigarh, May 11 (PTI): Home Minister Rajnath Singh will tomorrow chair the 28th meeting of the northern zonal council here in which the Centre and the states will exchange ideas and experiences on various issues.
The council comprises of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Delhi and Chandigarh.
The chief ministers, ministers, chief secretaries and senior officers from the state governments are likely to attend the meeting, an official release said here today.
Officials concerned from the Central government will also take part in the meeting, it said. As many as 18 issues will be taken up for discussion and decision in the meeting, an official release said.
Matters of common interest pertaining to infrastructure, health, security, social welfare, linguistic minorities and border disputes may be taken up.
The 27th meeting of the Northern Zonal Council was held at New Delhi on April 25, 2015.
Five Zonal Councils — central, western, northern, southern and eastern — have been established under the State Reorganization Act, 1956.
Being advisory bodies, there is full scope for free exchange of views at these meetings.
In particular, a zonal council may discuss, and make recommendations with regard to any matter of common interest in the field of economic and social planning, any matter concerning border disputes, linguistic minorities or inter- state transport and any matter connected with, or arising out of, the reorganisation of the states.
The zonal councils aim to discuss and resolve many substantive issues of development concerning regional interest and national programmes through its consultative mechanism.
