Why in news
- The Union Home Minister chaired the Southern Zonal Council meeting, where southern states raised concerns over parliamentary delimitation and river disputes.
- Member states urged the freeze on parliamentary seats based on the 1971 Census to be maintained.
Key points
- The Southern Zonal Council convened to discuss inter-state coordination, water sharing regarding the Cauvery basin, and federal representation.
- Southern chief ministers urged retaining the 1971 Census baseline for Lok Sabha seat allocation to avoid penalizing states that implemented effective population control.
- Zonal Councils are statutory bodies established under the States Reorganisation Act, 1956 to promote regional cooperation and resolve inter-state disputes.
- The Union Home Minister serves as the common Chairman of all five Zonal Councils, while Chief Ministers of member states serve as Vice-Chairman by annual rotation.
- The councils act as advisory forums on economic planning, border disputes, linguistic minorities, and inter-state transport.
Key terms
Delimitation
The act or process of fixing boundaries of parliamentary or assembly constituencies to reflect population changes.
Zonal Council
A statutory inter-state consultative body created to foster cooperative federalism and operational coordination among states.
Prelims facts
- Zonal Councils are statutory bodies, unlike the Inter-State Council which is a constitutional body under Article 263.
- The North-Eastern Council was created separately under the North-Eastern Council Act, 1971.
Mains discussion
- Examine the role of Zonal Councils in strengthening cooperative federalism and resolving inter-state resource conflicts.
- Discuss the political and federal concerns of southern states regarding post-2026 parliamentary delimitation.
Source: Economic Times
Same topic · past papers
UPSC has asked this before
These previous-year questions sit on the same topic. Open one to practise the earlier ask.
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2016 · Q3 · Essay · 125 marks
Water disputes between states in federal India. -
2015 · Q79 · General Studies · 2 marks
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2024 · Q71 · General Studies · 2 marks
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2025 · Q25 · General Studies · 2 marks
Which of the following are the evidences of the phenomenon of continental drift? I. The belt of ancient rocks from Brazil coast matches with those from Western Africa. II. The gold deposits of Ghana are derived from the Brazil plateau when the two continents lay side by side. III. The Gondwana system of sediments from India is known to have its counterparts in six different landmasses of the Southern Hemisphere. Select the correct answer using the code given below: -
2020 · Q7 · GS IV · 20 marks
Case study. Rajesh Kumar is a senior public servant, with a reputation of honesty and forthrightness, currently posted in the Finance Ministry as Head of the Budget Division. His department is presently busy in organising the budgetary support to the states, four of which are due to go to the polls within the financial year. This year's annual budget had allotted Rs 8300 crores for National Housing Scheme (NHS), a centrally sponsored social housing scheme for the weaker sections of society. Rs 775 crores have been drawn for NHS till June. The Ministry of Commerce had long been pursuing a case for setting up a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in a southern state to boost exports. After two years of detailed discussions between the centre and state, the Union Cabinet approved the project in August. Process was initiated to acquire the necessary land. Eighteen months ago, a leading Public Sector Unit (PSU) had projected the need for setting up a large natural gas processing plant in a northern state for the regional gas grid. The required land is already in possession of the PSU. The gas grid is an essential component of the national energy security strategy. After three rounds of global bidding the project was allotted to an MNC, M/s XYZ Hydrocarbons. The first tranche of payment to the MNC is scheduled to be made in December. Finance Ministry was asked for a timely allocation of an additional Rs 6000 crores for these two developmental projects. It was decided to recommend re-appropriation of this entire amount from the NHS allocation. The file was forwarded to Budget Department for their comments and further processing. On studying the case file, Rajesh Kumar realized that this re-appropriation may cause inordinate delay in the execution of NHS, a project much publicized in the rallies of senior politicians. Correspondingly, non-availability of finances would cause financial loss in the SEZ and national embarrassment due to delayed payment in an international project. Rajesh Kumar discussed the matter with his seniors. He was conveyed that this politically sensitive situation needs to be processed immediately. Rajesh Kumar realized that diversion of funds from NHS could raise difficult questions for the government in the Parliament. Discuss the following with reference to this case: (a) Ethical issues involved in re-appropriation of funds from a welfare project to the developmental projects. (b) Given the need for proper utilization of public funds, discuss the options available to Rajesh Kumar. Is resigning a worthy option?