Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has asked the Chief Ministers of Maharashtra, Goa and Gujarat to keep a watch on the increasing threat of radicalisation among the youth, a senior government official said.
Mr. Singh, who chaired the 21st meeting of the Western Zonal Council in Panaji, a forum for the Centre and the States to cooperate and exchange ideas and experience, asked the three States to adopt measures to stop the youth from joining any extremist organisation. Without naming any particular group, Mr. Singh expressed concern over the growing threat of radicalisation, and asked the States what measures they had taken to address the issue. Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel and Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar, who attended the meeting, said radicalisation was not that big a threat for them, and the bigger problem was coastal security. Maharashtra, represented by its Irrigation Minister, said it had taken various measures on counter-radicalisation.
The NDA government revived the zonal councils ever since it came to power last May. The zonal councils were first conceptualised by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in 1999, but after the UPA came to power, it never showed any interest in these councils. This is the fourth zonal council meeting after the NDA came to power.
The Home Minister said: “The western zone is the economic hub of India. Gujarat, Maharashtra and Goa are some of the most developed States of the country.”
The meeting was attended by administrators of the Union Territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and representatives of various Ministries. Issues relating to regional development of infrastructure for giving a boost to urban housing, construction of bridges, issuance of biometric identity cards and card-readers to fishermen were discussed.
