Chief Secretary Rakesh Sharma raised several interstate issues in course of the 11th meeting of Central Zonal Council held at Raipur on Tuesday. During the meeting, Sharma specially raised the pending issues pertaining to irrigation and power sectors. He discussed matters related to sharing of assets concerning irrigation and other departments with UP. He also stressed on speeding up the construction work of Jamrani Dam. He sought to put other States concerned on the same page regarding the policies of the Centre affecting development, the most important being the funding ratio of Centrally sponsored developmental schemes.
During the meeting, all the four States-MP, UP, Uttarakhand and Chhhattisgarh- reached consensus on three issues -forest conservation act, environmental clearance and 90:10 ratio on centrally sponsored schemes, the last one generating heat with the Centre
having drastically slashed its share following the implementation of 14th Finance Commission's recommendations. They jointly flagged off these three matters to the Union government.
Sharma lobbed several other issues such as hydro- power projects located on Bhagirathi River which is facing uncertainty after the area was declared Eco Sensitive Zone (ESZ). This aside, he broached issues relating to Rajaji National Park, Bio-diversity, Aadhar card and National Food Security Scheme. The CS shared the state’s experience vis-a-vis State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) with the other states. Besides, he broached the ongoing innovative works presently going on in the State.
During the meeting, the menace of Naxalite extremism figured prominently with the states sharing inputs on the mechanism to eliminate it. Crisis management plan, cooperation in statistic strengthening, single window system in public redressal resolution, computerisation of public distribution system, establishment of medical colleges, ANM and GNM centers were the other issues that came up for discussion.
The secretary, Interstate Council Secretariat Praveer Kumar, chief secretary Chhattisgarh Vivke Dhand, principal secretary (GA) UP Hariraj Kishor, Uttarakhand’s principal secretary Umakant Panwar and secretary Shailesh Bagoli were among others present at the meeting.