Uttarakhand govt to present Uniform Civil Code Bill in Assembly on Feb 6

The Uttarakhand government will present the Uniform Civil Code Bill in the state Assembly on February 6, according to government sources.

They added that after two days of debate in the House, the Bill will be passed.

The Uttarakhand Assembly session will be held from February 5 to 8, according to a notification by the Secretariat of the Assembly.

Apart from this, the government will also present a bill in the House for a 10 per cent horizontal reservation in government services for the state agitators and their dependents.

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami earlier said that the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Committee had completed its work and its report would be delivered on February 2.

CM Dhami, speaking to ANI about the implementation of UCC in the state of Uttarakhand, said, "While making a promise to the people of the state in the 2022 assembly elections, we constituted the UCC Committee, taking a pledge to implement the Uniform Civil Code in the state. The committee has completed its work and on February 2, it will submit its report to us."

The Uttarakhand Chief Minister further said that after receiving the report on February 2, it would be brought to the Cabinet and after that, action will be taken in the state assembly to enact the Uniform Civil Code Act.

Uttarakhand had constituted a panel on the Uniform Civil Code under Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai on May 27, 2022.

The UCC was promised to the people of the state in the run-up to the 2022 assembly polls in Uttarakhand.

Article 44 of the Constitution of India says that the state shall endeavour to secure a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) throughout the territory of India. The UCC proposes a common set of laws dealing with marriage, inheritance, adoption, and other matters.

The UCC, which had been a hot topic that had polarised opinions over the last four years, hit the forefront in June last year after Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a strong case for the implementation of uniform legislation in an address in Madhya Pradesh's Bhopal.

PM Modi said the country cannot run on two laws and that the Uniform Civil Code was in keeping with the founding principles and ideals of the Constitution.

"Today, people are being instigated in the name of UCC. How can the country run on two (laws)? The Constitution also talks of equal rights...Supreme Court has also asked to implement the UCC. These (opposition) people are playing vote bank politics," PM Modi had said in Bhopal.