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There are five Zonal Councils:

1. Northern Zonal Council
    
2. Southern Zonal Council
    
3. Eastern Zonal Council
    
4. Western Zonal Council
    
5. Central Zonal Council

A sixth, the North-Eastern Council, was formed under a separate Act in 1971.

About

• Zonal Councils are the statutory bodies. An Act of Parliament establishes them, the States Reorganisation Act of 1956.
• The Act divided the country into five zones—Northern, Central, Eastern, Western, and Southern—and established a Zonal Council for each Zone to promote inter-state cooperation and coordination.
• While forming these zones, several factors were carefully considered, including geographical proximity, natural features, cultural and linguistic similarities, and the administrative convenience of the states involved.
  • The raw divisions of the country.
  • The river systems and means of communication.
  • The cultural and linguistic relationship.
  • The provisions of economic growth, protection, law, and order.
• Apart from the five Zonal Councils, a separate North-Eastern Council was established under the North-Eastern Council Act of 1971. The council comprises the states of Manipur, Assam, Mizoram, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Meghalaya, and Sikkim as its members.
• These advisory bodies make recommendations about any matter of common interest in economic and social planning between the Centre and States, border conflicts, linguistic minorities, inter-state transport, or issues associated with the reorganization of States.

Composition

• The Northern Zonal Council: It includes the States of Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh Punjab, Rajasthan, Delhi, and the Union Territory of Chandigarh,
• The Central Zonal Council: It contains the States of Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Madhya Pradesh,
• The Eastern Zonal Council: It includes the States of Bihar, Orissa Jharkhand, Sikkim, and West Bengal,
• The Western Zonal Council: The Western Zonal Council consists of the states of Gujarat, Goa, and Maharashtra, along with the Union Territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
• The Southern Zonal Council: The Southern Zonal Council comprises the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, and the Union Territory of Puducherry.

Organizational Structure

• Chairman: The Union Home Minister serves as the Chairman of each Zonal Council.
• Vice Chairman: The Chief Ministers of the states within each Zone serve as the Vice-Chairman of the respective Zonal Council by rotation, each holding the position for one year.
• Members: The chief minister and two other ministers, as selected by the governor from each state, and two members from union territories are included in the Zone.
• Advisers: Each Zonal Council includes one member appointed by the Planning Commission (now NITI Aayog), the Chief Secretaries, and another officer or Development Commissioner nominated by each state within the Zone.