- Tuesday, April 30, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIAN home minister Amit Shah on Sunday (14) said the country’s development cannot be imagined without the contribution of its southern states.
Speaking at the 29th meeting of the Southern Zonal Council in Tirupati, a popular Hindu pilgrimage city in the state of Andhra Pradesh, Shah said, “The ancient culture, traditions and languages of the states of southern India enrich India’s culture and ancient legacy. India’s development cannot be imagined without the very important contribution of the states of southern India.”
The meeting of the council, which comprises besides Andhra, other southern Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Telangana and the union territories of Puducherry, Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar Islands, was hosted by the chief minister of Andhra, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and was attended by his counterparts from the other regional states and other top officials.
Zonal council meetings are ways to sort out issues between the central and state governments as well as those between states. The zonal councils take up several issues, including boundary-related disputes between states; security; infrastructure-related matters like road, transport, industries, water, power etc. Besides, matters pertaining to forests and environment, housing, education, food security, etc. are also discussed on these platforms.
Shah, who is the second most-powerful leader in India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after prime minister Narendra Modi, asked the states to accelerate administering of the second dose of the coronavirus vaccine and said the chief ministers should monitor the process.
He also asked the states to take strong measures against narcotic networks even as he sought their suggestions for changes in the Indian Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code for effective management of law and order.
Shah also said the states should have zero-tolerance towards crime against women and children. He advised them to set up a directorate of prosecution in their police departments to ensure that investigations are better carried out.
Stressing that the Modi government respects India’s local language and culture, Shah said, “The Modi government respects all of India’s regional languages and, therefore, at today’s Southern Zonal Council meeting, facilities have been made for translation into the languages of all states that are in the Southern Zonal Council.”
A day before on Saturday (13), said in Varanasi in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh that there is no friction between Hindi and other regional languages of India and he, despite being a Gujarati, loves Hindi even more than his mother tongue.
