In the 24th meeting of Central Zonal Council in Narendra Nagar, Uttarakhand, Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Amit Shah stressed on the importance of empowering farmers for the development of the nation, among other issues.
In the meeting which was attended by the CMs of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, CM of MP thru’ video conferencing and others, Shah informed that now pulses, oilseeds and maize of farmers across the country will be procured 100% at Minimum Support Price (MSP) by NAFED.
Along with this, issues like banking facility to every village within 5 km radius, formation of 2 lakh new PACS in the country, royalty and mining related issues and creation of basic infrastructure in Left Wing Extremism-affected districts were also discussed in the meeting.
In his address, Shah said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the role of Zonal Councils has transformed from advisory to action platforms. He said that the Central Zonal Council’s member states of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh have hugely contributed in the country’s GDP and development.
On the call of Union Home Minister, Central Zonal Council unanimously passed a resolution congratulating all the players for winning more than 100 medals for the first time in the Asian Games for India and bringing glory to the country. In the meeting, the Central Zonal Council also welcomed the spectacular success of Chandrayaan-3, successful organization of the G20 Summit and the historic passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill by Parliament.
Amit Shah asked the member states to give priority and special emphasis on issues like Cooperation, drop out ratio of school going children and malnutrition. Emphasizing the need to eliminate malnutrition among children, he said that it is our collective responsibility to address this problem with sensitivity.
He said that from 2004 to 2014, 11 meetings of Zonal Councils and 14 meetings of Standing Committees were held, while from 2014 to 2023, 25 meetings of Zonal Councils and 29 meetings of Standing Committees were held. He added that between 2004 and 2014, a total of 570 issues were discussed, out of which 448 were resolved, while between 2014 and 2023, a total of 1315 issues were discussed, out of which 1157 issues were resolved.