Patna, Dec 11 (Agency) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said that the Centre had never created hurdles in the way of caste-based survey and his party BJP supported the move of the Bihar government to undertake such an exercise when it was in power in the state. Addressing the Eastern Zonal Council meeting in Patna, Shah said the Centre never intended to create hurdles in the way of the caste-based survey in Bihar. When his party was part of the government in Bihar, it had backed the state govenment’s move to hold a caste-based survey, he pointed out. The Union Minister said the Bihar Governor also approved the related bill without any delay.
There were some issues regarding the exercise, which the state government would resolve, he hoped. Shah said although the Zonal Council meetings had advisory roles, based on his four and half years of experience as Union Home Minister, he could say that by giving importance to the meetings of the Council and its Standing Committee, many issues were resolved. A total of 48 issues were discussed in depth in the 13th meeting of the Standing Committee held on June 17, out of which 28 issues were resolved by mutual consent after discussion between the Chief Secretaries of the member states and senior officials of the states and the Centre, he stressed.The Union Minister said the present regime at the Centre had emphasised cooperative federalism, which was yielding results. The Eastern states of the country had ample resources of water and minerals, which could be tapped for faster growth of the region, he said. He also appreciated the talents of the younger generation, saying students of the eastern region were performing well in national-level competitions.