Amit Shah Chairs 28th Western Zonal Council Meeting in Goa

The Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Mr. Amit Shah presided over the 28th meeting of the Western Zonal Council held in Panaji, Goa on 7th September, 2026. The meeting was attended by the Chief Ministers of Goa, Gujarat and Maharashtra and the Administrator of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. Mr. Amit Shah emphasized on the economic significance of western India and called it the “WEST Engine” of India’s economy. Other issues discussed were cooperative federalism, cyber crime, coastal security, green energy, PACS computerization and welfare schemes.

“India’s WEST Engine” Region in West

According to Amit Shah, the west region is emerging as India’s largest economic, industrial, and financial region. Shah defines the term WEST using the following four main aspects,

• W – Wealth and finance
• E – Exports and ports
• S – Startups and semiconductors
• T – Tourism and blue economy

Goa attracts over one crore tourists per year, of which five lakh are foreigners, and tourism accounts for 16% of Goa’s GSDP. Maharashtra houses the most startups in the country, which is 33,872, whereas Dholera is emerging as a semiconductor hub in Gujarat.

It has major ports like Mundra and Deendayal port. Mumbai remains as a financial hub of the world.

Number of Meetings of Zonal Councils Nearly Triples

According to Amit Shah, the use of Zonal Councils has been another step towards the cooperative form of federalism and the Team India idea.

Only 25 meetings of the Zonal Councils along with their Standing Committees were organized between 2004 and 2014. But since 2014, this number has reached 71.

During these 71 meetings, the number of issues that have been addressed reaches 1,893 and of those 1,445 have already been solved. The Zonal Councils, according to Shah, have become increasingly focused not just on resolving interstate problems but also on the implementation of social development programmes.

The examples of such issues include child malnutrition, Aadhaar coverage and Ayushman Bharat implementation.

Cybercrime, Co-operative Banks and Coastal Security in Focus

He also advocated greater digitization in the case of co-operative banking sectors. He stated that all urban co-operative banks must be connected to the concerned cyber fraud detection systems and suggested adoption of technologies like MuleHunter AI by the cooperative banks and integration with the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C).

Shah further mentioned that coastal security issues will remain one of the key focuses of the Ministry of Home Affairs over the coming two years, which is a major area of concern for the western states and Goa due to their long coastline.

Computerisation of PACS and Green Energy in Focus

The Home Minister drew attention towards computerization of Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS). While in Maharashtra, 98% computerization has been attained, the level in Gujarat has been 92%.

He further stressed upon adoption of Gobardhan technology by the Banas Dairy. Shah stated that all four members of the Western Zonal Council belong to the top states and UTs in green energy and should take benefit from the government’s data-centre policy.

Issues Discussed in Western Zonal Council Meeting

Some of the issues deliberated during the meeting includes,

• Fast Track Special Courts in matters of rape of women and children
• Emergency Response Support System (ERSS-112)
• Food safety standards
• Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY
• Banking facility available up to the distance prescribed from villages
• Railways
• Environment clearances
• Urban planning
• Electricity
• PACS (Police-Auxiliary-Citizen) system
• Poshan Abhiyaan
• School dropouts
• Cybercrime and technology infrastructure

Shah encouraged the western region to play a key role in the implementation of three new Nyaya Sanhitas and in the drug fight in India.