Will table the UCC bill in upcoming assembly session; expert committee to submit report on Feb 2: CM
Tuesday, 30 January 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The Uttarakhand government is all set to implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the State. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said on Monday that the expert committee set by the State government on UCC will submit its report on February 2. He averred that the government will table a bill in the upcoming session of the State assembly on the UCC and will implement it in the State. “Ahead of the assembly elections of 2022 we had taken a commitment that we will implement UCC in Uttarakhand. The people of the state gave us their mandate to fulfil this commitment. After the elections the government set up an expert committee headed by Justice Ranjana Prasad Desai and now the committee has completed its work. We will now discuss it in the cabinet and table a bill in the assembly and move forward in the direction of the UCC act in the State,’’ he said. The four day session of the assembly would commence from February 5. Apart from the UCC bill the government is likely to table the bill granting 10 per cent horizontal reservations to the statehood activists in the government jobs in the assembly. The session will be in continuation of the adjourned session of the assembly on September 8, 2023.
It is pertinent to mention here that Uttarakhand will become the only State in the country other than Goa to have its own UCC after the passage of the bill. The move of Uttarakhand on UCC is being keenly watched by the union government and other States of the country especially the BJP ruled ones. The draft of the UCC prepared by the State will act as the template for the union government on the subject.
Expert committee
The expert committee constituted on May 27, 2022 is headed by retired Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai. Justice (Rtd) Pramod Kohli, social worker Manu Gaur, former chief secretary of Uttarakhand Shatrughan Singh and Vice Chancellor (VC) of Doon University Surekha Dangwal are the members of the committee. The committee has been mandated to examine all existing and relevant laws regarding marriage, divorce, right for property, inheritance, adoption and protection for implementation of UCC in the state. The subcommittees of the UCC have held discussions with various religions, communities, stakeholders and sections. The term of the committee was extended from time to time by the government.
