750-page UCC report to be tabled in Uttarakhand assembly

A government-appointed panel to prepare a draft of the Uniform Civil Code on Friday submitted a voluminous document to Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, who said the "long-awaited moment has arrived".

The draft will be examined, studied and discussed before it is tabled in the assembly on February 6, he said.

A special four-day session of the assembly has already been convened from February 5-8 to pass a legislation on the UCC.

The draft in four volumes containing 740 pages was handed over to Dhami by the five-member committee headed by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai.

All the panel members came to the chief minister's residence to submit the draft.

Apart from Desai, other members of the panel are retired chief justice of Sikkim high court Pramod Kohli, social activist Manu Gaur, former Uttarakhand chief secretary Shatrughan Singh and Vice Chancellor of Doon University Surekha Dangwal.

On receiving the draft, Dhami said, "It is yet another step towards the fulfilment of a commitment made to the people of the state before the assembly polls of 2022."

Dhami also released a music video titled "Aa Raha Hai UCC" (UCC is coming). The title song has been written and sung by Bhupendra Baseda and its tune composed by Rakesh Bhatt.

After getting a mandate for a second consecutive term in office, his cabinet at its very first meeting decided to constitute the committee.

"The panel, which consists of erudite people, held a comprehensive dialogue with people representing different sections of the society, including the tribal people of the country's first village of Mana, before finalising the draft," he said.

Mana is located in Chamoli district near the India-China border.

"The long-awaited moment has arrived. The draft of UCC has now been submitted to us. We will examine, study and discuss it before tabling it in the state assembly to move in the direction of making it an act during its forthcoming session," Dhami said.

A meeting of the state cabinet has been convened on Saturday to discuss the draft.

"The auspicious phase for all good works to be done has begun with the sun god moving northwards. The consecration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya has taken place, the interim budget has been presented in Parliament and the draft of UCC has also been received," the chief minister said.

Later, addressing a press conference at Uttarakhand Sadan in Delhi, Dhami said the draft will be tabled in the state assembly on February 6 for discussion.

The state's law department, parliamentary affairs department and all other departments will also go through the committee's report and the draft UCC before it is tabled in the state assembly, he said and appealed to all members including those of Opposition parties to hold a positive discussion on the proposal.

He rejected the opposition charge that the BJP is bringing the UCC in Uttarakhand to create a "communal atmosphere" for political gains ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

"Definitely this is happening for the good. This is empowerment... We are not bringing this to target anybody. We are bringing it to fulfill our promise and resolve that we made during elections in the state," he said, reiterating that UCC was the BJP's poll promise.

"We have always worked taking inspiration from our top leadership. Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given key mantras - 'ek bharat, shrestha bharat' and 'sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka vishwas'. We are moving forward with the same aim," Dhami added.

He said enforcement of UCC has been a "long pending demand" and the Constitution also provides for it and hoped that other states would also consider bringing the code taking cue from Uttrakhand.

The UCC will provide a legal framework for a uniform marriage, divorce, land, property and inheritance laws for all citizens irrespective of their religion in the state.

If implemented, Uttarakhand will become the first state in the country after Independence to adopt the UCC. It has been operational in Goa since the days of the Portugese rule.

The panel was constituted for six months initially and was given four extensions to look into all aspects before finalising its report.

It received 2.33 lakh written suggestions and held more than 60 meetings in which the members interacted with around 60,000 people.