Uttarakhand cabinet led by CM Dhami approves UCC manual

NEW DELHI: A cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami was held on Monday at the state secretariat, where the cabinet approved the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) manual.

The approval came after a detailed review by the legislative department.

Addressing the media after the meeting, CM Pushkar Singh Dhami reaffirmed his government’s commitment to fulfilling its electoral promises. “We had promised the people of Uttarakhand in 2022 that we would bring the UCC Bill as soon as our government was formed. We kept that promise. The draft was prepared, passed, approved by the President, and it became an act. The training process is almost complete, and after reviewing everything, we will announce the implementation dates soon,” he said.

The BJP government introduced the UCC Bill during a special session of the Uttarakhand legislative assembly on February 6, 2023.

It was passed with a comfortable majority the next day. Subsequently, President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent to the bill on March 13, making Uttarakhand the first state in India to potentially implement the UCC.

The Uniform Civil Code seeks to establish a uniform set of personal laws applicable to all citizens, irrespective of religion, gender, or caste. It encompasses issues such as marriage, divorce, adoption, inheritance, and succession.