Ranchi: The Eastern Zonal Council meeting will be held in Ranchi on July 10 under the chairmanship of Union Home Minister Amit Shah. A total of 68 representatives from four eastern states — Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha, and West Bengal — will attend the meeting.
From Jharkhand, Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Finance Minister Radhakrishna Kishore, Minister Deepak Birua, Chief Secretary Alka Tiwari, Principal Secretary (Home) Vandana Dadel, and DGP Anurag Gupta are expected to participate. Bihar will be represented by Ministers Vijay Choudhary and Samrat Choudhary, while Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, Deputy CM Parvati Parida, and Minister Mukesh Mahaling will attend. From West Bengal, Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya will be present.
The Jharkhand government is expected to raise a demand for ₹1.36 lakh crore in pending dues from the Centre. It will also seek restoration of Security Related Expenditure (SRE) funding in 17 districts that were earlier classified as Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) affected but have since been removed from the list, leading to discontinuation of SRE support.
The agenda includes discussion on pending inter-state issues among Bihar, Odisha, and West Bengal, and a review of progress on decisions taken in previous council meetings.
In light of the high-profile meeting, Ranchi police have issued a traffic advisory. Auto-rickshaws will not be allowed to operate between Birsa Chowk and Sujata Chowk on July 10. The entry of goods vehicles into the city limits will be restricted from 6 am to 10 pm the same day.
It is worth noting that earlier the meeting of the Eastern Regional Council was proposed on May 10, but it was postponed due to international tension between India and Pakistan. Now this meeting is being held in Ranchi on July 10, which is being considered an important opportunity towards the development of eastern India.
