Committee to frame Uttarakhand’s UCC rules submits report to Pushkar Singh Dhami

DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Friday received the final report of the committee to draft rules for implementation of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Act enacted earlier this year.
Dhami told reporters the committee’s report would be discussed at the state cabinet’s next meeting and then date announced for implementation of UCC. “Thousands of employees, who will also need to be trained for its effective implementation in the state”, he said. Dhami told the Bharatiya Janata Party’s state executive meeting on July 15 that the new code would be implemented from November 9, the day the state observes it foundation day.
The report was prepared by a nine-member Uttarakhand UCC legislation Rules Making and Implementation Committee headed by former chief secretary Shatrughna Singh.
“The report consists of four parts, comprising procedures related to registration of marriage and divorce, live-in relationships, birth and death registration and rules related to inheritance. Keeping in view the ease of use to the general public, a portal and mobile app have also been developed so that all the facilities can be made available online,” he said on Friday.
Dhami reiterated that UCC hadn’t been brought to target anyone. “UCC has been brought to ensure equality in law and justice for everyone in the state…. UCC law will benefit all people in the state, especially it will empower women and ensure their safety,” he said
“The Gangotri of UCC which has started in Uttarakhand, will also flow in other states of the country”
UCC refers to a common set of laws that will subsume customary laws across faiths and tribes and govern issues such as marriage, divorce, inheritance and maintenance. In the Constitution, it is a part of the non-justiciable directive principles of state policy.
The Uttarakhand law seeks to put in place an overarching legal regime for governing personal matters, including marriage, divorce, live-in relationships and succession, regardless of religion.
It proposes an official set up under the state government for compulsory registration of marriages, besides providing for the first time a legal recognition to live-in relationships that can be registered as well as dissolved under the proposed legislation.