Eastern Zonal Council meet postponed

The meeting of the Eastern Zonal Council (EZC), to be chaired by Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, scheduled to be held here on Saturday, has been postponed, official sources said.

“Due to some exigencies, none of the members from Bihar will be able to attend the meeting of the EZC. Therefore, the meeting has been postponed. A fresh date will be intimated,” an Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) wrote to the Chief Secretary of Odisha.

As per the norms of the EZC Rules of Procedure, at least one member of each State has to remain present in the meeting to complete quorum.

The role of the EZC is to increase cooperation among the member States and to discuss developmental issues.

Besides the Union Home Minister, the EZC meeting would have been attended by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda.

The Jharkhand Chief Minister had already confirmed his participation. While Shinde is the Chairman of EZC, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is its Vice-Chairman.