35 of 47 issues resolved in Northern Zonal Council meeting in Jaipur

By Rajnish Singh
New Delhi [India], July 9 : Union Home Minister Amit Shah resolved 35 out of 47 issues discussed in the 30th Northern Zonal Council meeting, said officials on Saturday.
The meeting chaired by Shah was held in Jaipur.
Four of the 47 issues were identified as important topics at the national level as they are regularly discussed and monitored in the meetings of various Zonal Councils.
"These four issues, include improving banking services in rural areas, monitoring cases of rape and sexual offences against women and children, setting up fast track courts for such cases and implementing Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT)," read an official statement by the Home Ministry.
In the 29th meeting of the Northern Zonal Council held in Chandigarh in 2019, 18 issues were discussed and 16 of them were resolved.
Appreciating the progress achieved by the Central government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi by providing banking facilities within 5 km to all the villages, the Northern Zonal Council discussed the expansion of such bank branches and Indian Post Payments Bank (IPPB) touch points in the Northern Region States and Union Territories.
The Union Home Minister expressed hope that this action will be completed soon for these States and Union Territories.
As the issue was discussed in the meetings of all the Zonal Councils during the last three years including this Northern Zonal Council meeting, the Home Minister said," The Department of Financial Services, Department of Posts and the Ministry of Cooperation will prepare a roadmap for setting up of IPPB touch points of bank branches (including co-operative bank branches) and post offices within 5 km in each village in a time-bound manner based on the discussions and suggestions in these meetings."
In the northern region, Shah said inter-state interaction and resolution of problems between the Centre and the states are very important for the development of the country and for strengthening the federal structure.
The Northern Zonal Council also discussed the growing threat of cybercrime and strategies for its prevention.
The Union Home Minister stressed upon the States and UTs to conduct awareness campaigns on cyber-vigilance through various mediums.
In view of the profound impact of cyber crimes on national security as well as public order and economic activity, the Council emphasized the need to ensure the "security of the nation's cyberspace and the security of citizens as a whole".
Shah advised agencies of the Central and state governments to use common software developed by the Ministry of Home Affairs to work together to identify the issues of concern and trace the offenders and take strict action against them.
In this context, it was decided that a committee under the chairmanship of the Union Home Secretary with all concerned departments and state governments would prepare a strategy to deal with the growing menace of cybercrime.
The Home Minister also stressed the need to train police officers, public prosecutors and cutting-edge agencies including telecom companies, and their PoS agents with new technology and advanced skills. He also called for maximum use of IT tools to detect cyber crimes and take systematic measures to prevent their recurrence.
The complex problems of sharing river water among the member states were also discussed in the meeting.
Shah also asked the concerned states to take a cordial approach to the issue and find a time-bound solution.
Shah said that all the stakeholders should come together to establish a strong cooperative mechanism for development, for which purpose the regional councils were created.
"Although the role of the Council is advisory, he is happy that in his three years of experience, more than 75 per cent of the issues in the Council have been resolved by consensus," he added.
"Thus a very good process has started and we all should continue it," said Shah, adding "We are moving towards achieving 100 per cent results on issues requiring the building of national consensus".
The Union Home Minister said that in the last three years, many important issues related to the country have been included in various meetings of the Zonal Councils.
These include forensic science lab and forensic science university, amendment in CrPC and IPC, banking service in every village of the country within a radius of five kilometres, mobile network in 100 per cent villages, providing rural population all the facilities of state and Central government through a common service centre, all the beneficiary schemes of the state and central government to reach directly into the account of the beneficiaries through 100 per cent DBT and many issues related to national security.
The meeting was attended by Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar and their counterpart from Himachal Pradesh, Jai Ram Thakur.
Delhi's Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena and Ladakh LG Radha Krishna Mathur were also among the participants along with Chandigarh administrator Banwarilal Purohit, Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, Finance Minister of Punjab Harpal Singh Cheema and ministers of member states.
The meeting was also attended by Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla, Secretaries of the Inter-State Council Secretariat, Chief Secretaries of Member States in the Northern Region and senior officials of the states and central ministries and departments.