Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 5: Union Home Minister Amit Shah urged the southern states to explore joint solutions to issues related to sharing of river water. He was speaking while chairing the 30th Southern Zonal Council meeting of southern states and Union Territories in Kerala’s state capital on Saturday.
Shah also appealed to the southern Chief Ministers to tackle the drug menace that is plaguing the country in a joint manner. He urged the states to hold regular meetings of the Narco Coordination Centre (NCORD) for tackling the problem of narcotics. He said that the Union Home Ministry had tried to crack down on the issue of the narcotics trade with full focus. During the 30th meeting of the Southern Zonal Council, 26 issues were discussed, nine issues resolved and 17 issues reserved for further consideration. Of these, 17 issues reserved for consideration, nine were related to the reorganization of Andhra Pradesh.
The Union Home Minister urged Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to mutually resolve pending issues related to the bifurcation of the state. He said that there was huge potential for trade and export of marine products in the region and added that of 3,461 fishing villages in the country, 1,763 were in south India.
He said that QR-enabled PVC Aadhaar cards have been issued to more than 12 lakh fishermen. The Union Home Minister added that this would help their identification and also increase the country’s maritime security.
Shah said that states should provide banking facilities within five kilometres of every village. He also urged the state Chief Ministers to persuade cooperative banks to open branches.
He added that if banks are opened in villages with good frequency, it would enable the direct transfer of government schemes directly to the beneficiaries.
