Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah Chairs Eastern Zonal Council Meeting In Kolkata

PIB, Kolkata, 17 December 2022: Union Home and Cooperation Minister Shri Amit Shah presided over the 25th Eastern Zonal Council meeting in Kolkata today. The meeting was attended by the Chief Ministers of West Bengal and Jharkhand, the Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar and Ministers from Odisha and other senior officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs and the States under the Council.

In his inaugural address, the Union Home Minister said that in the last 8 years under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, more than 1,000 issues were discussed in the meetings of the Zonal Councils and 93 percent of them were resolved, which is a huge achievement. He said that in the 8 years from 2006 to 2013, a total of 6 meetings of the Zonal Councils were held (an average of less than one meeting per year), but in the 8 years since 2014, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, a total of 23 meetings (including today's meeting) have been held (an average of 3 meetings per year). Shri Shah said that there has been a significant increase in the frequency of meetings of the Zonal Council and these results are visible, which has been possible with the cooperation of all the State Governments, Central Ministries and Departments and in this the Inter-State Council Secretariat is playing an active role.

Shri Amit Shah said that the Union government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has done a lot of work in the past years in the direction of developing infrastructure in the States of the Eastern region. He said that States of the Eastern region have a major share in the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Gati Shakti Scheme, as Shri Modi has always given thrust on the development of this region. Shri Shah said that in the next 25 years, during the Azadi ka Amrit Kaal, the Eastern region of the country will play an important role in the development of India. Shri Shah said, the 25th Eastern Zonal Council meeting was held in a good and positive atmosphere, consensus was reached on many issues, while pending issues will also be resolved through consultations.

The Union Home Minister said that Left Wing Extremism has almost been eliminated from the Eastern region of the country and efforts should be made to sustain this decisive dominance over Left Wing Extremism. He stressed that efforts should be sustained as extremism should not re-emerge in LWE-free States and that these States should develop at par with other parts of the country. The Union Home Minister urged the Chief Minister to ensure the creation of a district-level structure of the NCORD mechanism and its regular meetings for the prevention of narcotics. He said the fight against drugs in the country is now at a crucial stage and there is a need to accelerate the campaign against drugs with the help of Artificial Intelligence.

MP | 17 Dec 2022 :  Union Home Minister Amit Shah will chair the Eastern Zonal Council meeting at the West Bengal secretariat here on Saturday, officials said. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her counterparts from Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and Sikkim are likely to attend the EZC meeting. 

Sources in the secretariat, however, said that Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik would skip the meeting. Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav will attend the meeting on behalf of Kumar, while Odisha minister Pradeep Amat will represent the state in the absence of Patnaik, the sources said. 

Among other issues, Shah is slated to hold discussions on matters related to boundaries of the five states and the completion of the eastern freight corridor. Along with the CMs, chiefs of all central armed forces are also expected to attend the meeting, which was earlier scheduled for November 5, but got postponed due to Shah's unavailability, owing to other engagements. Security has been beefed up around the state secretariat and the BJP office in the city, a police officer said. 

Shah, who is also a senior BJP leader, had on Friday evening held a closed-door meeting here with members of the party's Bengal unit, where he took stock of the law and order situation in the state. 

He reviewed the saffron camp's preparations for the upcoming panchayat polls in West Bengal as well, BJP leaders said. 

"We have apprised the home minister of the current law and order situation in West Bengal. He has also been told about the party's preparations for the panchayat polls. He urged party workers to reach out to as many voters as possible," BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh told reporters. 

The party's state president Sukanta Majumdar and Leader of the Opposition in assembly Suvendu Adhikari were also present at the meeting that lasted for around 30 minutes.

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