The Uniform Civil Code will be implemented in Uttarakhand from January, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said on Wednesday.
During a meeting of the Uttarakhand Investment and Infrastructure Development Board (UIIDB) in Dehradun, Dhami said that the state government has completed its "homework" and the UCC will be implemented across the state from January 2025.
With this, Uttarakhand will be the first state in the country to implement the Uniform Civil Code after independence. On the last day of campaigning for the 2022 assembly elections, the chief minister had promised the people of Uttarakhand that if the BJP retained power, the UCC would be implemented in the state.
Dhami said that after the new government was formed in Uttarakhand in March 2022, it was decided in the first meeting of the cabinet to form an expert committee to implement UCC in the state.
He said that a five-member expert committee was formed under the chairmanship of retired judge Ranjana Prakash Desai. The Uttarakhand Uniform Civil Code, 2024 Bill was passed in the state assembly on February 7, 2024, based on its report. Dhami said that the Act was notified on 12 March 2024 after getting the presidential assent. He said that now the rules of the Uniform Civil Code Act have also been prepared and Uttarakhand is fully prepared to implement the UCC from January. "The Uniform Civil Code Act of Uttarakhand will give a new direction to the society by following the basic spirit of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas. This law will open new doors of empowerment, especially for women and children of Devbhoomi," Dhami said.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah had spoken in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, saying that UCC will be implemented in all BJP-ruled states. Dhami told the officials that necessary training and facilities must be arranged for the personnel for implementing UCC provisions. The Chief Minister said that to take care of the ease of the common people, a portal and an app have also been readied by which facilities including registration and appeal can be available in an online manner.
