ROLE OF THE STANDING COMMITTEES OF THE REGIONAL COUNCILS

ROLE OF THE STANDING COMMITTEES OF THE REGIONAL COUNCILS

The issues sponsored by the member States/UTs and Central Ministries/ Departments for consideration of the various Zonal Councils (i.e. Northern, Southern, Eastern, Western and Central Zonal Councils) are first scrutinized by the respective Standing Committees of these Zonal Councils. The Standing Committees also monitor action taken on the recommendations of the Zonal Councils.

During the last three years starting from 1st February, 2023 till 31st January, 2026, ten (10) meetings of the Standing Committees of various Zonal Councils have been held, including two meetings of Standing Committees of the Western and Central Zonal Councils which were organised in the month of January 2026.

The agenda discussed in these meetings were broadly in the nature of issues arising from the reorganization of states; matters related to mining, environment and forests, accelerating development of infrastructure projects, water sharing issues among States/UTs, sharing good practices by States and UTs etc.

Besides, several issues of high importance to the nation and States/UTs have also been discussed in these meetings, such as those pertaining to coverage of villages by brick-and-mortar banking facilities within a defined radius, malnutrition in children, dropout rates in school education and related matters, performance of public hospitals in Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, power sector reforms, urban planning, timely investigation and trial in cases of sexual offences against women and children, issues related to digital infrastructure, issues related to cybercrimes etc.

This was stated by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs Shri Nityanand Rai in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha.