Uttarakhand to introduce Uniform Civil Code Bill, panel to submit draft on February 2: CM Pushkar Singh Dhami

समान नागरिक संहिता का ड्राफ्ट तैयार करने के लिए गठित कमेटी 2 फरवरी को ड्राफ्ट प्रदेश सरकार को सौंपेगी। हम देवभूमि उत्तराखण्ड के मूल स्वरूप को बनाए रखने के लिए संकल्पित हैं।#UCCInUttarakhand pic.twitter.com/SDfIdv6azN

— Pushkar Singh Dhami (@pushkardhami) January 29, 2024

“The committee has finished its work and informed us that they will submit the draft on February 2, after which we will assess it. We will put it in front of the cabinet and so the required towards making it an Act,” he added.

The Assembly will be convened for a special one-day session on February 5 to discuss and pass the Uniform Civil Code Bill.

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 (Modi Ka Parivar) (@pushkardhami) January 29, 2024

In an earlier X post, Dhami said that his government was determined to implement the UCC before the Lok Sabha elections. “Our government has always been committed to implementing the UCC in the state in accordance with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘One India, Best India’ before the elections as per the aspirations of the godlike people of Uttarakhand. The committee formed to prepare the draft of the Uniform Civil Code will submit its draft to the state government on February 2 and we will implement the Uniform Civil Code in the state by bringing a bill in the upcoming assembly session,” he wrote with the hashtag #UCCInUttarakhand.

The chief minister has said that after receiving the draft, the government will soon implement UCC in the state by introducing the Bill in the Assembly. In 2022, after taking oath as chief minister for the second time, Dhami decided to implement the UCC in the state in the first cabinet meeting.

The expert committee to prepare a UCC draft was constituted on May 27, 2022. The committee led by Justice Ranjana Desai, a retired Supreme Court judge, also includes Delhi High Court judge Justice Pramod Kohli, former chief secretary Shatrughan Singh, Doon University Vice-Chancellor Surekha Dangwal and social worker Manu Gaur.

The report is learnt to have emphasised gender equality and equal rights for daughters in ancestral properties. It does not, however, suggest raising the marriageable age of women to 21 years. It has recommended retaining the marriageable age for women at 18 years.

Sources also said once the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly passes the UCC, two other BJP-ruled states—Gujarat and Assam—will pass more or less a similar Bill in their Assemblies. If everything goes as planned, three states will enact the Uniform Civil Code before the Lok Sabha elections due in the next few months.