Home Minister Amit Shah chairs Eastern Zonal Council meeting in Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar, February 28 :

The 24th Eastern Zonal Council meeting under the chairmanship of Home Minister Amit Shah at Bhubaneswar Friday discussed several state-specific issues and create healthy inter-state and center-state relations.

Speaking on behalf of the entire eastern region of the country, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who is also the vice-chairman of the Eastern Zone Council demanded a special economic package for the region.

He said the entire eastern region lags in many sectors despite being full of natural and mineral resources. Mr. Patnaik said the East Zone states need double the allotments made to this region so that they catch up to national benchmarks.

Pointing out that royalty on coal has not been revised since 2012, Mr. Patnaik said there is an urgent need to review this and also share clean energy cess with the state governments.

Apart from Odisha CM, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar also attended the meeting. On behalf of Jharkhand chief minister, the State Finance Minister Rameshwar Oraon attended the meeting. Union Ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Pratap Chandra Sarangi, party national Vice-President Baijayant Panda and other senior leaders were present.BM