PANAJI/DIU
Union Home Minister Amit Shah underscored the need for early and time bound investigation of rape and other sexual offences against women and children with stringent punishment for the perpetrators.
Shah was speaking at the 25th meeting of the Western Zonal Council at Diu he presided over and which was attended by Chief Ministers Pramod Sawant and his Gujarat counterpart and administrators of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, besides senior ministers of Gujarat and Maharashtra.
Union Home Secretary, Chief Secretaries of the member States of the Western Region, Secretaries, Central and State Ministries including the Inter-State Council Secretariat and senior officers of the departments also attended.
Meetings of various Zonal Councils are now being organised regularly by the Inter-State Council Secretariat of the Ministry of Home Affairs in collaboration with the State Governments, Shah said.
In the last eight years, these Zonal Council meetings have increased by almost three times, Shah said, adding that these take an integrated approach through discussion and exchange of views between States on important issues of social and economic development.
The meeting discussed 36 issues, including improvement of banking services in rural areas, monitoring cases of rape and sexual offences against women and children, implementation of fast track courts for such cases, verification of identity of marine fishermen at sea, development of local contingency plans by coastal States for rescue operations and promotion of Make in India through preference in public procurement.
Shah said, Additional Director General of Police level officers, if possible women officers, should be entrusted with the responsibility of monitoring the investigation of all rape and sexual offence cases at the Police Headquarters of each State.
He expressed satisfaction over progress made on the issue of QR code based PVC Aadhaar cards to marine fishermen and urged the Coastal States to make efforts to ensure 100 per cent sea-goers including migrants and seasonal fishermen should have Aadhaar cards which can be easily verified.
Highlighting the need for an all-inclusive local emergency plan and its role in mass rescue operations, Shah advised identifying existing infrastructure along the coast and integrating it with disaster mitigation plans.
Shah also emphasized the importance of Direct Benefit Transfer to ensure benefits reach target beneficiaries, and advised the States to adopt Direct Benefit Transfer Platform and include all State schemes in it.
The cash deposit facility through Common Service Centres will be extended in a time bound manner and all banks will be linked to the platform, Shah said, and advised a quarterly review with a focus on this.
Shah also said, that banks including cooperative banks and the India Post Payments Bank should ensure that each of the remaining unbanked villages of the Western Zone are provided facilities within 5 kms in the next one year.
He also said all villages in the Western zone should be provided mobile connectivity within one year and suggested that the private sector be roped in.
