Law and statutory body
Zonal Councils
GS2 Polity · Inter-state relationsPrelims and Mains
- Why in news
- Union Home Minister Amit Shah will chair the 31st meeting of the Southern Zonal Council at Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu, on 20 August 2026, as announced on 19 August 2026.
- What it is
- Zonal Councils are advisory bodies for Centre-State and inter-State cooperation. They were set up under the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, and not by the Constitution. They discuss common issues such as security, economic and social planning, and border or transport disputes.
- Legal basis
- Five Zonal Councils exist under Sections 15 to 22 of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956. They are statutory, not constitutional.
- Western Zonal Council members
- Goa, Gujarat, Maharashtra and the UT of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
- Chair and Vice-Chair
- The Union Home Minister is Chairman. The Chief Ministers of the member States serve as Vice-Chairman by rotation, one per year.
- Composition
- Each State sends its Chief Minister and two senior Ministers as members.
- Nature of role
- The role is advisory. Unresolved issues go from the Chief Secretaries' Standing Committee to the Council.
- Number of Councils
- There are five Zonal Councils: Northern, Central, Eastern, Western and Southern. The North Eastern Council is a separate body set up by the North Eastern Council Act, 1971.
- Meeting
- The 31st Southern Zonal Council meeting was held at Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu, chaired by the Union Home Minister.
- Record since 2014
- 70 Zonal Council meetings since 2014 resolved 1,445 of 1,869 issues, about 80%.
- Meeting frequency
- Meetings rose from an average of two and a half a year in 2004-2014 to six a year now.
- Southern Zone members
- Besides the states, the Southern Council attendees included Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep.
- Southern Zonal Council members
- It has five states (Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Keralam, Tamil Nadu, Telangana) and three UTs (Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep).
- Standing committee
- Each council has a standing committee of Chief Secretaries. State-proposed issues are first discussed there, and the remaining ones go to the council.
- Secretariat
- The meeting is organised by the Inter-State Council Secretariat of the Ministry of Home Affairs, with Tamil Nadu as host.
- Members of the Central Zone
- The Central Zonal Council covers Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
- Who organised the meeting
- The Inter-State Council Secretariat, which works under the Ministry of Home Affairs, organised it with Chhattisgarh as host.
- Issues taken up
- The release says 1,729 issues were discussed in 2014-2026, with nearly 80% resolved.
Don’t confuse with Zonal Councils vs Inter-State Council: Zonal Councils are statutory, set up by the 1956 Act. The Inter-State Council is a constitutional body under Article 263, created by Presidential order in 1990.
Don’t confuse with Zonal Councils vs North Eastern Council: The North Eastern Council is set up by a separate 1971 Act and is not one of the five Zonal Councils.
Don’t confuse with Zonal Council vs Inter-State Council: Zonal Councils are statutory (1956 Act) and regional. The Inter-State Council is set up under Article 263 by the President and is national.
Don’t confuse with Zonal Council vs NITI Aayog Governing Council: Zonal Councils are advisory regional forums chaired by the Home Minister. The Governing Council is chaired by the Prime Minister and includes all Chief Ministers.
Laws, judgments and statutory bodies: 30 Prelims questions since 2013 (what the law says, who chairs, legal basis). In Mains, 44 news-triggered questions, most in GS2, asking for provisions and challenges.
Why it matters
- They give a regular forum to resolve Centre-State and inter-State issues without litigation.
- They support cooperative federalism by bringing Chief Ministers and Union Ministers together.
- Provide a regular forum for cooperative federalism and settling inter-State disputes outside courts.
- Allow Centre and states to coordinate on security, water, and social-sector issues.
- They give a regular forum for Centre-State and inter-State dialogue, supporting cooperative federalism.
- They help resolve regional disputes such as water sharing and reorganisation issues without litigation.
- Gives a regular forum for Centre-State and inter-State dialogue, supporting cooperative federalism.
- Helps settle border, water and transport issues without litigation, and monitors development work.
Problems
- They are only advisory, so decisions are not binding and follow-up depends on political will.
- Meetings can be irregular and States may use them unevenly.
- Councils are only advisory, so their recommendations are not binding on states.
- Hard issues such as river water sharing remain pending despite meetings, and political differences between Centre and states can slow progress.
- Their role is only advisory, so decisions are not binding and follow-up depends on political will.
- Meetings were irregular in some periods, and contested issues may stay unresolved.
- Meetings depend on the Centre's initiative, and implementation of decisions is hard to track.
Way forward
- Set up a mechanism to track decisions and report action taken.
- Hold regular meetings and link them to the Inter-State Council.
- Set up follow-up monitoring of decisions and publish the status of pending issues.
- Combine Zonal Councils with the Inter-State Council and ministries like Jal Shakti to resolve water disputes.
- Set regular meeting schedules and track the implementation of decisions through the standing committees.
- Link Zonal Council outcomes with the Inter-State Council and NITI Aayog for follow-up.
- Set up a mechanism to track follow-up on decisions and report publicly on how many issues are resolved.
- Hold meetings on a fixed schedule so that forum use does not depend on political will.
Put in your answer
Meetings since 2014: 70 meetings of Zonal Councils and their Standing Committees have been held from June 2014 to date.
Issues discussed: Councils have discussed fast track special courts, ERSS-112, food safety, banking access in villages, and cybercrime.
Meeting record: 70 meetings since 2014 resolved about 80% of 1,869 issues, against two and a half meetings a year earlier.
Inter-State Council: Article 263 allows the President to establish an Inter-State Council to investigate and advise on inter-State disputes and coordination.
Article 263: Article 263 provides for an Inter-State Council to coordinate between States and the Centre, a constitutional contrast to statutory Zonal Councils.
- 2025Prelims Q53Which of the listed bodies, including Zonal Councils, are in the Constitution?
- 2022Mains GS1 · Q11Discuss political and administrative reorganisation of states since mid-nineteenth century, with examples.
- 2015Mains GS2 · Q2Cooperative federalism: drawbacks in existing structure and how it addresses shortcomings
- 2024Mains GS2 · Q13Recent Centre-State changes and measures to build trust and strengthen federalism.
- 2020Mains GS2 · Q3How cooperation, competition, confrontation shaped Indian federation, with recent examples
- 2016Mains ESSAY · Q1Essay on whether cooperative federalism is a myth or reality.
- 2013Prelims Q19Which bodies, including Zonal Councils, are not mentioned in the Constitution?
- 1995Prelims Q13Which extra-constitutional devices for inter-State cooperation include Zonal Councils?
UPSC’s own questions that come close to this issue, from our Prelims and Mains banks.
Prelims practice · Statements
Ours, not from a UPSC paper
Consider the following statements:
- 1.Zonal Councils are constitutional bodies established under Article 263 of the Constitution.
- 2.The Union Home Minister chairs the Zonal Councils, and the Chief Minister of one member State serves as Vice-Chairman on a yearly rotational basis.
- 3.The Western Zonal Council includes Goa, Gujarat, Maharashtra and the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
True or false?
1 of 20
Statements the way Prelims prints them. Say first, then see the fact.
1.The Western Zonal Council includes Goa, Gujarat, Maharashtra and the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
True. These are its members.
2.The Union Home Minister is the Chairman of each Zonal Council.
True. The Union Home Minister chairs the Zonal Councils.
3.The Vice-Chairman of a Zonal Council is the Union Minister of State for Home.
False. The Chief Minister of a member State is Vice-Chairman, by yearly rotation.
4.Zonal Councils have binding powers to settle disputes between member States.
False. Their role is advisory.
5.Issues raised by States are first taken up by a Standing Committee at the level of Chief Secretaries.
True. The Standing Committee of Chief Secretaries considers issues first. Unresolved ones go to the Council.
6.There are six Zonal Councils under the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, including the North Eastern Council.
False. There are five. The North Eastern Council was created by a separate Act in 1971.
7.Zonal Councils are constitutional bodies established under an Article of the Constitution.
False. They are statutory bodies created by the States Reorganisation Act, 1956.
8.The Union Home Minister chairs each Zonal Council.
True. The Union Home Minister is the Chairman of all the Zonal Councils.
9.The Southern Zonal Council meeting held in Mahabalipuram was its 31st meeting.
True. It was the 31st meeting of the Southern Zonal Council.
10.Since 2014, about 80% of issues taken up in Zonal Council meetings have been resolved.
True. 1,445 of 1,869 issues, about 80%, were resolved in 70 meetings.
11.Zonal Councils currently hold an average of two and a half meetings a year.
False. They now hold six meetings a year; two and a half was the 2004-2014 average.
12.The Vice-Chairman of each Zonal Council is the Chief Minister of a state in that zone, holding the post by rotation for one year.
True. Chief Ministers of the zone serve as Vice-Chairman by rotation, one year at a time.
13.The Southern Zonal Council has its own members from Delhi and Goa.
False. Goa belongs to the Western Zone and Delhi to the Northern Zone.
14.Zonal Councils were established by the Constitution of India as permanent inter-State bodies.
False. They are statutory bodies created by the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, not by the Constitution.
15.The States Reorganisation Act, 1956 provided for the establishment of five Zonal Councils.
True. Sections 15 to 22 of the Act set up five Zonal Councils.
16.The Southern Zonal Council includes Maharashtra and Goa as member states.
False. Maharashtra and Goa are in the Western Zonal Council. The Southern one has AP, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana.
17.Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep are Union Territories represented in the Southern Zonal Council.
True. Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep are its UT members.
18.The Vice-Chairman of a Zonal Council is the Governor of the host state.
False. The Chief Ministers of member states serve as Vice-Chairman by rotation.
19.Recommendations of Zonal Councils are binding on the member states.
False. Zonal Councils are advisory bodies; their recommendations are not binding.
20.The Central Zonal Council includes Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
True. These four states form the Central Zonal Council.
Written by us from the release, not by UPSC; checked by a second model.
Mains practice
15 marks · 250 words
The 28th meeting of the Western Zonal Council, to be chaired by the Union Home Minister in Goa, has drawn attention to Zonal Councils as forums of cooperative federalism. Discuss the constitutional and statutory basis, composition and functions of the Zonal Councils. Examine how effective they have been in resolving Centre-State and inter-State issues, and suggest measures to strengthen them.
Worth revising until Prelims 2028: most news questions come within two years of the event.