Zones

The states of India have been grouped into six zones having an Advisory Council "to develop the habit of cooperative working" among these States. Zonal Councils were set up vide Part-III of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956. The North Eastern States' special problems are addressed by another statutory body - The North Eastern Council, created by the North Eastern Council Act, 1971.^[2] The present composition of each of these Zonal Councils is as under:^[3]

• Northern Zonal Council, comprising Chandigarh, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Punjab, and Rajasthan;
• North Eastern Council, comprising Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura; The State of Sikkim has also been included in the North Eastern Council vide North Eastern Council (Amendment) Act, 2002 notified on 23 December 2002.^[4]
• Central Zonal Council, comprising the States of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh;
• Eastern Zonal Council, comprising Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, and West Bengal;
• Western Zonal Council, comprising Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Goa, Gujarat, and Maharashtra;
• Southern Zonal Council, comprising Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana.
• Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep are not members of any of the Zonal Councils.^[5] However, they are presently special invitees to the Southern Zonal Council^[6]

Cultural zones

Each zone has a zonal headquarters where a zonal cultural center has been established.^[7] Several states have membership in multiple zones, but no state subdivisions are utilized in the zonal divisions. In addition to promoting the culture of the zones they are responsible for, each zonal center also works to cross-promote and create exposure to other cultural zones of India by organizing functions and inviting artistes from other zones.

Nagpur

Patiala

Prayagraj

Kolkata

Dimapur

Udaipur

Thanjavur

Location of the headquarters of each cultural zone

States

Union territories

Regions within states

Some states consist of regions, which have no official administrative governmental status. They are purely geographic regions; some correspond to historic countries, states or provinces. A region may comprise one or more divisions, averaging about three divisions per region. However, the boundaries of the regions and the boundaries of the divisions do not always coincide exactly. So far there has been no movement to give the regions official administrative status. If this was to be done, it would presumably require that the boundaries of the regions be slightly modified so that they correspond exactly with their constituent districts.

• Regions of Assam
• Regions of Gujarat

Blocks

The Community Development Block also known as CD Block or just block, is often the next level of administrative division (for development purposes, whereas tehsil is next to the district for revenue purposes).

Villages

Villages are often the lowest level of subdivisions in India. The governmental bodies at the village level are called Gram Panchayat, of which there were an estimated 256,000 in 2002. Each Gram Panchayat covers a large village or a cluster of smaller villages with a combined population exceeding 500 Gram Sabha. Clusters of villages are also sometimes called Hobli or Patti.

Habitations

Certain governmental functions and activities - including clean water availability, rural development, and education - are tracked at a sub-village level.^[65] These hamlets are termed "habitations". India is composed of 1,714,556 habitations ^[66] In some states, most villages have a single habitation; in others (notably Kerala and Tripura) there is a high ratio of habitations to villages.^[67]