Union Home Minister Amit Shah chaired the 27th meeting of the Eastern Zonal Council in Ranchi on Thursday, July 10, 2025, bringing together top political leaders and senior bureaucrats from Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha, and West Bengal. The meeting, hosted at Hotel Radisson Blu, was formally inaugurated with a welcome by Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren. Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, Bihar Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary, and West Bengal Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya were also present, along with several state ministers and a 15-member IAS-IPS delegation from Jharkhand. The Council, which serves as a forum for regional cooperation and coordination among states, took up 20 crucial issues demanding urgent attention.

Among the top agenda items was the long-standing Mayurakshi Dam water-sharing dispute between Jharkhand and West Bengal, followed by pressing issues such as cost-sharing of the Fulbari Dam under the Upper Mahananda Water Scheme, the stalled Indrapuri Reservoir Project in Bihar, and the formulation of a regional silt management policy. States also voiced concerns over banking access in remote villages, improving emergency response systems (ERSS-112), and speeding up investigations under POCSO cases. Concerns related to crimes against women and children, delays in setting up fast-track courts, and issues regarding the establishment of Border Security Force (BSF) battalions due to land acquisition delays in Bengal were also thoroughly debated.

Jharkhand is expected to press its long-pending financial demand of ₹1.36 lakh crore from the Centre, while also raising the matter of delayed fund releases under MNREGA and the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. Additionally, the unresolved financial and administrative liabilities arising from the bifurcation of Bihar and Jharkhand — particularly related to pension disbursement — were brought to the table. The Union Home Ministry had previously directed reconciliation of pension records between the two states to resolve discrepancies. With strong participation from all four states and the central leadership, the meeting is anticipated to yield critical decisions on inter-state cooperation, infrastructure development, and welfare schemes, signaling a push for better coordination in eastern India’s governance landscape.