Union Residence Minister Amit Shah on Thursday mentioned zonal councils have remodeled from being mere dialogue boards into “engines of cooperation”, noting that 83% of points taken up of their conferences have been resolved.
Shah made the comment on the twenty seventh Japanese Zonal Council assembly, attended by representatives from the 4 jap states — Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha, and West Bengal — together with Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and his Odisha counterpart Mohan Charan Majhi.
“Underneath the Modi authorities, regional councils have advanced from mere ‘discussion board of dialogue’ into ‘engines of cooperation’. The decision of 83% of points throughout regional council conferences underlines the effectiveness and rising significance of those boards,” Shah mentioned.
Shah mentioned the variety of zonal council conferences rose to 63 between 2014 and 2025 as in comparison with 25 between 2004 and 2014.
On the assembly, long-pending points associated to Masanjore Dam, Taiyabpur Barrage and Indrapuri Reservoir had been mentioned intimately, along with points associated to division of property and liabilities of many public sector undertakings (PSUs) between Bihar and Jharkhand states, which had been pending for the reason that time of division of Bihar.
CM Soren raised the difficulty of pending cost of over `1.40 lakh crore by the Central authorities to the state, together with 30 different calls for. In August final yr, the Supreme Courtroom had dominated in favour of Jharkhand, directing the Central authorities to clear unpaid mineral royalties owed by PSUs since 2005 in phased funds over 12 years.
Soren mentioned coal mining in Jharkhand is primarily carried out by subsidiaries of Coal India Restricted, together with CCL, BCCL, and ECL. These corporations owe the state authorities substantial pending dues below varied heads — `1,01,000 crore for non-payment of land compensation, `34,213 crore below the Frequent Trigger fund, and `6,219 crore as royalty for washed coal. “I respectfully request the Hon’ble Residence Minister to make sure this due quantity is cleared on the earliest,” mentioned Soren.
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He mentioned the Jharkhand authorities strongly opposes the proposed modification to the Coal Bearing Areas (CBA) Act, which seeks to empower coal corporations to allocate mined land to different corporations for business use. “As per the Structure, land is a topic below the state’s jurisdiction. Subsequently, after mining operations conclude, the land should be restructured and returned to the state authorities,” he mentioned.
Referring to the latest deaths of 4 unlawful miners in an deserted mine in Ramgarh district, the CM mentioned coal corporations are additionally chargeable for formally closing such mines.
This negligence, he famous, has led to lack of lives and property and has inspired unlawful mining. “Therefore, I urge the federal government of India to make sure that deserted mines bear correct closure procedures to safeguard the surroundings and forestall unlawful actions,” Soren mentioned.