DEHRADUN: The committee formed to draw up the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in Uttarakhand will launch a website on Thursday, using which people can post their opinions on implementation of UCC in the state.
The five-member committee had been constituted by the state government in May to prepare a draft proposal to implement UCC in the Himalayan state and asked to submit its report in the next six months. “Initially, the role of the website will be to take feedback and suggestions from people. It’s a lengthy process but every piece of public opinion will be important. The panel will go through all these suggestions before submitting its report,” said a source familiar with the process.
The committee is headed by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai, a former Supreme Court judge, justice (retd) Permod Kohli, social activist Manu Gaur, former chief secretary Shatrughan Singh and VC, Doon University, Surekha Dangwal.
Implementation of the UCC was part of the BJP’s manifesto for this year’s state polls and one of the first announcements that the new government made after the cabinet’s swearing-in on March 24.
After being voted back to power, chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that the BJP will bring UCC to “provide equal rights to everyone in state” and bring “social harmony, end gender-based discrimination and strengthen women empowerment”. He said that UCC would provide a legal framework for marriage, divorce, land, property and inheritance for all citizens irrespective of their faith.
UCC was also part of the key poll promises made by BJP in its manifesto for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Once implemented, Uttarakhand will become the first state after Goa to have UCC.
