In a first, J&K, Ladakh to attend Northern Zonal Council meeting
New Delhi, Sep 18 (IBNS) The newly proposed Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh would attend the 29th meeting of Northern Zonal Council (NZC) to be held at Chandigarh on Friday.
The NZC meeting will be chaired by the Home Minister and attended by the Chief Ministers of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, and Rajasthan, Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh and Government of NCT of Delhi.
The Chief Minister of Haryana is the Vice-Chairman and host for the meeting.
Apart from the CMs of Member state in the Zone, along with two Ministers each, Administrators of Union Territories, Chief Secretaries and senior officers from the State Governments and the Central Government will attend the meeting.
The Council takes up issues involving Centre and States and one or many States falling in the Zone and the Zonal Councils thus provide a forum for resolving disputes and irritants between Centre and States and among many States in the Zone.
The Zonal Councils also discussed a broad range of issues which include boundary related disputes, security, infrastructure related matters like road, transport, industries, water and power etc, matters pertaining to forests & environment, housing, education, food security, tourism and transport.
Five Zonal Councils were set up in the year 1957 under Section 15-22 of the States Reorganization Act, 1956 and the Union Home Minister is the Chairman of each of these five Zonal Councils and Chief Ministers of the host State, chosen by routine every year, is the Vice-Chairman. Two more Ministers from every member State are nominated as Members by the Governor.
