Amit Shah chairs 28th Western Zonal Council meeting in Goa

Union Home Minister Amit Shah chaired the 28th meeting of the Western Zonal Council in Goa on Monday, with senior representatives from the participating states and Union Territory attending.

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and Praful Patel, administrator of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, took part in the meeting. Senior officials from the Union Home Ministry and the state governments also attended.

The meeting began at 11 a.m. at a hotel near Panaji. Discussions covered inter-state coordination, cooperative governance and the sharing of best practices. Presentations from the Inter-State Council Secretariat and delegations from the participating states and Union Territory were also scheduled.

Shah arrived in Goa on Saturday for a three-day visit. On Sunday, he chaired a Union Home Ministry meeting on the goal of creating a drug-free country and announced a roadmap to eradicate the narcotics problem as part of the Viksit Bharat initiative.

The Western Zonal Council covers Goa, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. Five zonal councils were established under the States Reorganisation Act of 1956. Shah serves as chairman, while the Goa chief minister is the current vice-chairman. The vice-chairmanship rotates annually among the member states’ chief ministers.

The councils are advisory, but officials describe them as important platforms for mutual understanding and cooperation. Proposals from the states are first considered by a standing committee of chief secretaries. Unresolved matters then go before the Zonal Council.