26th meeting of the Eastern Zonal Council was chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Patna, Bihar.
During the meeting, Mr Shah addressed the representatives of Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha.
He appealed to all members to work with the spirit of cooperative federalism for all-round development.
He said that the Eastern Zonal Council has had great success over the last nine years, with over 1,100 conflicts settled through dialogue on this forum.
The issue of caste census was brought up by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar at the meeting.
In order to provide the underprivileged classes with justice, he asked the Centre to perform a nationwide census based on caste.
In partnership with the Bihar government, the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, through the Inter State Council Secretariat, organized the meeting.
Along with two senior ministers from each state, the chief ministers of the member states attended the Eastern Zonal Council meeting.
The vice chairman of the 26th Eastern Zonal Council meeting is the chief minister of Bihar.
The states of Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, and Jharkhand make up the Eastern Zonal Council.
In 1957, the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, Section 15-22, established five Zonal Councils.
These five Zonal Councils are chaired by the Union Home Minister, and its members are the Chief Ministers of the States and the Administrator/Lieutenant Governor of the Union Territories from each Zonal Council.
