Uniform Civil Code committee submits final report to Uttarakhand CM Dhami

The Chairman of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) committee, Shatrughan Singh , submitted the final report to Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami at the state secretariat on Friday. Following the submission, CM Dhami addressed the media, highlighting the government's commitment to introducing the UCC as its first decision after forming the government.

"Two days before the State Assembly elections, on behalf of the party I had presented a proposal before the people of the state that as soon as we form the government, the first decision would be to introduce the UCC. I want to give credit to the people of the state who entrusted us with their votes," Dhami said.

The committee, led by Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai , was formed to draft the bill, which was subsequently passed in the Legislative Assembly on February 7, 2024. "The bill was passed on February 7 after which it was sent to the President for approval and on March 12, it became an act," Dhami explained.

The UCC manual, according to Dhami, includes sections on marriage and divorce, live-in relationships, birth and death registrations, and succession. A mobile app has also been developed for people to address their queries online. "Shatrugan Singh and his team were tasked with the formation of the manual of the act, which has been submitted to us today," Dhami added.

Dhami emphasised that the UCC is designed to benefit everyone equally. "I want to clear that this UCC was not made to target anyone and has been made for the benefit of everyone. We had also made it clear earlier that the laws introduced would be equal for everyone in DevBhoomi," he said.

UCC Committee Chairman Shatrughan Singh confirmed the committee's completion of the task. "The committee has completed its work and handed it over to the state government. The rest of the work lies in the hands of the state government. It's upon the Rajya Sabha on which date they want to implement it. Our work is done," Singh said to ANI.

The Uttarakhand UCC bill includes mandating the registration of live-in relationships, bans child marriage, and introduces a uniform process for divorce. It grants equal property rights to women of all religions, sets the marriage age at 18 for women and 21 for men, and makes marriage registration necessary for all religions.