Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah will chair the 31st meeting of the Southern Zonal Council (SZC) at Mahabalipuram in Tamil Nadu on August 20.
The meeting is being organised by the Inter-State Council Secretariat under the Ministry of Home Affairs, with the Tamil Nadu Government hosting the event. Chief Ministers, Lieutenant Governors and Administrators of the Southern region, along with two senior ministers from each State, are expected to attend.
The Southern Zonal Council comprises Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana, besides the Union Territories of Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep.
Under Sections 15 to 22 of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, five Zonal Councils, including the Southern Zonal Council, were established. Amit Shah is the Chairman of the Southern Zonal Council, while Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay is its Vice-Chairman.
Chief Secretaries, advisers and senior officers of the participating State Governments and the Centre will also take part in the meeting. Issues placed before the Council are first considered by its Standing Committee of Chief Secretaries, with unresolved matters taken up at the Zonal Council meeting.
The Zonal Councils serve as forums for dialogue and cooperation on issues involving the Centre and States, among States and Union Territories, and within regions. The councils also discuss matters of national and regional importance, including Fast Track Special Courts, education, water-sharing projects, implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Gramin), civil aviation and issues arising from the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act.
Since June 2014, a total of 69 meetings of various Zonal Councils and their Standing Committees have been held, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs.
