Patna, Nov. 7: The special category status for Bihar was raised at the meeting of the standing committee of the Eastern Zonal Council (EZC) held in Patna today.

It was also decided that the chief ministers of four states of the eastern region would meet in the Bihar capital in the last week of November this year.

A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the standing council of the EZC, a statutory body under the Union home ministry. The meeting was attended by the chief secretaries, home secretaries and representatives of Bihar, Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand.

Bihar chief secretary Anjani Kumar Singh presided over the meeting. He said: 'Total 44 agenda were taken up aimed to establish better coordination among the four states of the region. The next round of meeting of the council will be held in the last week of November to be attended by the chief ministers.'

State home department principal secretary Amir Subhani said the meeting was not only confined to international security but also on all-round development of the region.