Uttarakhand will implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) on January 27, chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami’s secretary Shailesh Bagoli has said.
The move will be implemented a day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to arrive in Dehradun, reported ANI.
Bagoli said the UCC portal will launch at 12:30 pm on January 27 at the Secretariat.
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.
Uttarakhand will be the first state in independent India to implement the UCC.
The implementation of the UCC was a major commitment of the BJP in the run-up to the 2022 assembly polls, which saw the party storm to power for a second consecutive term.
Days ahead of the implementation, chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said the idea is not to target any person or community.
In an interview with Hindustan Times, he also added that the state will not spare any effort to identify and act against illegal immigrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh.
“There is no question of targeting anyone. We have made a uniform arrangement for all,” Pushkar Singh Dhami said. “Going forward, we will ensure that women, who make up 50% of the population are given more rights and protection. This law is oriented towards that.”
Dhami also said that the state has not framed any policy to target anyone. In our state, everyone lives in amity.
“In our state, everyone lives in amity. So, whenever we do something, we talk to people. We did have information that in some Madrasas there were some suspicious elements, some Bangladeshis and Rohingyas…such things should not be allowed in the Dev Bhoomi at any cost. We have issued instructions to the authorities to carry out investigations and if they find anything, to take action,” he told HT.
