Amit Shah Chairs 28th Western Zonal Council Meeting

Key facts

• Union Home Minister Amit Shah chaired the 28th meeting of the Western Zonal Council in Dona Paula, Goa.
• The meeting was attended by representatives of Goa, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
• The meeting was organized by the Inter-State Council Secretariat under the Ministry of Home Affairs and hosted by the Government of Goa.
• Amit Shah is the Chairman of the Western Zonal Council, and Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant is its Vice-Chairman.
• The Zonal Council comprises the Chief Ministers of each State in the Western region and two senior Ministers from each State as members.
• The meeting is part of PM Modi's vision of TEAM BHARAT based on cooperative federalism.
• A total of 70 meetings of various Zonal Councils and their Standing Committees have been held from June 2014 to date.
• The Councils discuss issues including expeditious investigation of rape cases against women and children and implementation of Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs).
• They also discuss implementation of the Emergency Response Support System (ERSS-112).
• Other issues include food safety standards, banking facilities, nutrition, education, health, power sector reforms, urban planning, cooperative system, cybercrime, and digital infrastructure.