The two-day ‘Chintan Shivir’ or brainstorming session of state Home Ministers and top police officers from all states, concluded on Friday with a commitment to move towards a “thematic approach”.

The first-ever such meeting organised on Thursday under the chairmanship of Union Home Minister Amit Shah also emphasised focusing on “cybercrime, improving conviction rates, narcotics and border security”. As the meeting concluded on Friday evening, top sources in the Ministry of Home Affairs said, the Home Minister suggested ” we (all states and the Centre) should move towards thematic approach”.

To achieve a 90 per cent conviction rate target, the states were also advised to focus on forensic sciences which play a big role.
Noting that “internal security is shared responsibility of both Centre and states”, it was decided jointly to work with the spirit of “Team India”.

All states were also advised to “constantly and annually” review goals and have a plan where their internal security will be in 2047.
The states were also advised to hold regular meetings of Narco Coordination Centre (NCORD).

In the meeting it was also mentiined that “Bihar and Jharkhand have became free from naxalism”, and that 9,200 North East militants surrendered arms in last eight years.

Besides, it was also pointed out that development taking place in North East and areas under Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) have been reduced.
It was also mentiined that North East, Jammu and Kashmir and Left Wing Extremism (LWE) or naxalism are areas where Prime Minister Narendra Modi led Central government has achieved unprecedented success.

The ‘Chintan Shivir’ was attended by Governor of Punjab; 10 Chief Ministers from Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Goa, Haryana, Kerala, Manipur, Punjab, Sikkim, Tripura and Uttarakhand; Deputy Chief Ministers of Maharashtra and Nagaland; Lieutenant Governors of Ladakh as well as Jammu and Kashmir.

Home Ministers of Arunachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Meghalaya, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Puducherry and Rajasthan as well as Finance Minister of Jharkhand also atttended the event.

Development of eco-system for cyber crime management, modernization of police forces, increase in usage of IT in criminal justice system, land border management and coastal security and other internal security issues were also key focus areas of the event which has the objective to prepare an action plan for the implementation of ‘vision 2047’ and ‘Panch Pran’ announced in the Independence Day speech of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Speaking at the inaugural session of the event, the Home Minister on Thursday had said that the initiative of the ‘Chintan Shivir’ was taken by current Prime Minister and former Chief Minister of Gujarat Narendra Modi.

Shah said both Centre and States can fight against cross-border crime when all states will jointly plan and take steps accordingly.
The Minister said that the ‘Chintan Shivir’ will help formulate a joint plan to deal with crimes and other issues.

The aim of the conference was also to facilitate national policy-making and better planning and coordination. Various topics were also discussed in the six sessions of the ‘Chintan Shivir’.

Many important issues such as Home Guards, Civil Defense, Fire Protection and Enemy Property was also discussed with focus on cyber security, drug trafficking, women’s safety and border management.