Union home minister Amit Shah said India’s development could not be imagined without the contributions of states of southern India.
Shah on Sunday chaired the Southern Zonal Council (SZC) meeting held at Taj Hotel in Tirupati. In his opening remarks, Shah said the ancient culture, traditions and languages of southern states of India enriched the country’s ancient legacy.
“The Modi government respects all regional languages of India and therefore at today’s SZC meeting, we made arrangements for translation into all languages of the states that are in the Southern Zonal Council,” he said adding that he would be happy to see delegates feeling free to speak in the language of their state in the future.
He added that the Zonal Councils were advisory bodies in nature and yet, they had been able to successfully solve many issues. The Zonal Councils provided an opportunity for interaction at the highest level amongst members, he added.
“In the last seven years we have held 18 meetings of Zonal Councils, compared to the very few meetings held earlier,” he informed, adding that now meetings of different Zonal Councils were convened regularly and “this could happen only with the cooperation of all state governments as well as Central ministries and departments”.
