New Delhi, Feb 28 (IANS): A meeting of the Eastern Zonal Council will be held in Bhubaneswar in Odisha on Friday, which will be chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Shah will later address a public rally in support of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act at the Janata Maidan here around 4 pm. In the evening, he is scheduled to meet with senior leaders of the Odisha unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The council meeting will be held at the Lok Seva Convention Centre in Bhubaneswar, in which chief ministers of West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Odisha along with senior state officers will participate. A team of senior officers from the Home Ministry too will be present.

Apart from international issues, discussions will be held on different central developmental plans and programmes, particularly pertaining to the Railways, infrastructure related to disaster management, royalty on coal production, funds to panchayats, Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme, database of Aadhaar Cards, and telecom and Internet quality.

The issues of Goods and Services Tax collection and time-bound provision of central funds to these states will also come up for discussion.

On Saturday, Shah will visit the Lingaraj Temple in Bhubaneswar before paying obeisance at the Jagannath Temple in Puri. As per the tradition, one should visit the Lingaraj temple before paying obeisance at the Puri temple.