TIRUPATI: The 29th meeting of the Southern Zonal Council commenced in the temple-town Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh on Sunday. The meeting is being held in the Taj Hotel and chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. As part of the meeting, the southern states will be discussing 26 items, including four proposed by the Centre among the southern states and Union Territories.

Telangana Governor and Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, Lieutenant Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands Admiral D K Joshi, Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and Basavaraj Bommai, Puducherry Chief Minister N Rangasamy, Administrator of Lakshadweep Islands Praful Khoda Patel, Telangana Home Minister Mahmood Ali, Kerala Finance Minister K N Balagopal, Tamil Nadu Minister for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments PK Sekar Babu, Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla, Inter-State Council Secretariat Secretary Anuradha Prasad and other top officials are attending.

Implementation of Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) Mission.
Speedy investigation of cases of sexual offence/rape against women and children, Strengthening of the National Leprosy Eradication Programme (NLEP),
States' support for effective implementation of NIKSHAY Poshan Yojana (NPY) under the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme is the Central subjects that are being discussed at the SZC.
Several inter-state issues between the southern states will also come up for discussion during the four-hour conference, being held after a three-year gap.
The State Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy inaugurated the meeting after felicitating the various leaders who had come to attend the meeting.

The topics to be discussed by the State of Andhra Pradesh include:

Arrears due from Tamil Nadu in respect of the Telugu Ganga project.
Issues related to the Polavaram project.
The Rs 6,300 crore electricity arrears are due from Telangana.
Funds due under the Revenue Deficit for the financial year in which the State was bifurcated.
The rationale behind the allocation of rice supplies by the Centre.
Arrears are due from the Civil Supplies Department of Telangana.
Freezing of FD accounts, unresolved issues of assets division between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
Bringing the Jurala project under the purview of KRMB.
If there are issues related to the AP State in the issues mentioned by other States, providing appropriate responses on them are some of the main pointers to be discussed today.
Proposal by the Centre on interlinking rivers

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