Uniform Civil Code Bill To Be Introduced In The Upcoming Assembly Session: Uttarakhand CM (Photo on X Pushkar Singh Dhami @pushkardhami)
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami suggested that the contentious Uniform Civil Code (UCC) will be implemented soon, with the committee formed to prepare the UCC draft going to submit the draft on February 2 to the BJP-ruled state government. The chief minister today took to his social media platform X (formerly Twitter) and wrote that his government is always been committed towards the UCC, in compliance with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of “Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat”. The chief minister however attributed the government’s decision to the resolution and aspiration of people in of Uttarakhand
One of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)”s election campaign promises revolve around the introduction of UCC, which seeks to create a uniform set of personal laws, regardless of religion, to govern subjects like marriage, inheritance, divorce, and adoption in the country. The bill is opposed by many, especially the religious minorities as they fear it will endanger their personal laws. They also suspect the move as an attempt to implement the Hindutva majoritarian principles upon the them.
However, CM Pushkar Singh in his post further noted that the committee formed to draft the Uniform Civil Code will submit its draft to the state government on February 2. “We will introduce the bill in the upcoming assembly session to implement the Uniform Civil Code in the state,” the chief minister added, clarifying that the government will bring the bill to the assembly session of the state after receiving the draft.
आदरणीय प्रधानमंत्री श्री @narendramodi जी के “एक भारत,श्रेष्ठ भारत” के विजन और चुनाव से पूर्व उत्तराखण्ड की देवतुल्य जनता के समक्ष रखे गए संकल्प एवं उनकी आकांक्षाओं के अनुरूप हमारी सरकार प्रदेश में समान नागरिक संहिता लागू करने हेतु सदैव प्रतिबद्ध रही है।
यूनिफॉर्म सिविल कोड का…
— Pushkar Singh Dhami (@pushkardhami) January 29, 2024
According to the report, the draft committee was headed by the former Supreme Court Judge, Ranjana Prakash Desai, and it had gone through multiple extensions, around three times, before it finally set to submit on February 2, Indian Express reported.
The draft reportedly put importance on gender equality and women’s rights on ancestral properties. However, it did not consider the marriage age of women in its recommendations. The government in December last year approved the recommendations of the five-member UCC drafting committee in a meeting presided over by the chief minister.
The chief minister had informed on the eve of Republic Day that the committee had completed the draft and the bill will be submitted to the government soon. The BJP government, in the previous assembly election held in 2022, had promised the implementation of the UCC law in Uttarakhand.
