Uttarakhand went one step closer to being the first state to implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) on Sunday, when the state cabinet accepted the UCC panel’s draft report at a meeting presided over by chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami.
Sunday’s development comes two days following the five-member UCC committee, led by former Supreme Court justice Ranjana Desai, delivered its report to the chief minister.
The news arrives on the eve of a special four-day assembly session called by the state’s BJP administration on January 26 to review the code’s implementation. The report will be presented on Tuesday, the second and final day; because the ruling party has 47 members in the 70-member house, the UCC law is expected to pass easily.
The law will subsequently be forwarded to the Governor, which is the state’s constitutional leader. Once authorised by the Governor, it become a law.
BJP’s promise to implement UCC and the efforts taken by Pushkar Singh Dhami
The BJP included UCC implementation in their agenda for the 2022 Uttarakhand assembly election.
After being elected chief minister for the second time in a row, Dhami prioritised achieving his pre-poll promise, announced the formation of a committee to create a draft of the UCC during the state cabinet’s first meeting after taking office.
The Committee, constituted in May 2022, took over two years and four extensions to develop the document, which was submitted to the chief minister here on Friday.
The implementation of the UCC will establish a legal foundation for uniform marriage, divorce, land, property, and inheritance rules for all people of the state, regardless of faith.
The panel received 2.33 lakh written ideas online and attended more than 70 sessions, during which members engaged with about 60,000 individuals in the process of drafting the draft.
On the day the final document was given to the chief minister, he expressed optimism that other states will follow Uttarakhand’s lead and adopt the state-provided template to implement the UCC.
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