Shah in city to chair eastern zonal council meet today

Time of India

13 hours ago

Ranchi: As Jharkhand is set to host the crucial eastern zonal meeting in Ranchi on Thursday, chaired by Union home minister
Amit Shah
, the ruling dispensation here is pinning high hopes on getting special fiscal assistance from the Centre.
Two years ago, when Odisha hosted a similar meeting, the Centre approved several crucial schemes and proposals to bolster development works there.
By Wednesday evening, representatives from participating states began to arrive in Ranchi. Around 7:30 pm, Bihar's deputy CM Samrat Choudhary, accompanied by Vijay Kumar Chudhary (water resources minister), landed in the state capital along with a bevy of their officials.
Representatives from Odisha and Chhattisgarh were also slated to arrive by late night, with some expected early in the morning. Shah also reached the city on Wednesday night.
Chief minister Hemant Soren, who is in Delhi for the last few weeks attending to his ailing father and Rajya Sabha MP Shibu Soren, is likely to attend Thursday's meeting, slated to start at 10:30 am at a city hotel near Overbridge.
Speaking to reporters outside the airport,
Bihar deputy CM
said, "The meeting is crucial for all eastern states, including Bihar.
From our point of view, we will take up issues of water sharing with bordering states and the division of assets with Jharkhand, many of which are still to be resolved after the bifurcation of Bihar in 2000, among others."
Jharkhand, however, is expecting that their long-pending demand of Rs 1.36 lakh crore in lieu of mining-related activities to the states will get due consideration. Congress's leader and Khijri MLA Rajesh Kachchap said, "It's a proud moment for Jharkhand to host such a crucial meeting, and we are hopeful that the home minister will ensure that our dues, which are pending with the Centre, are given to us.
We are also asking for special fiscal assistance and our pending funds in different coffers, which the finance minister and our alliance govt have already raised at several platforms.
"
He also raised the Sarna code issue. "It is among the key demands of Jharkhand, for which the Hemant Soren govt even passed a resolution from the state assembly and sent it to the Centre and President of India," he said.
JMM, which is leading the alliance govt here, also hoped that the meeting will be fruitful for Jharkhand.
Speaking to the media on Tuesday, JMM's central general secretary Supriyo Bhattacharjee reiterated the demand for special fiscal assistance and increasing central shares to the state. "When Odisha hosted a similar meeting two years ago, it ended up receiving special focus from the GOI to bolster development.
While we welcome that, we hope Jharkhand too will get equal treatment from the meeting chaired by the Union Home Minister tomorrow," he said.
Meanwhile, the district administration is on high alert to ensure proper law and order both in Ranchi and elsewhere in the state. In the evening, Ranchi IG Manoj Kaushik took stock of the security preparedness at various key places, including the airport. Traffic police have already announced vehicular curbs at different places, from the airport to the meeting venue.