DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Friday said that a special session of the assembly can be called to discuss the uniform civil code (UCC) after receiving the draft on the same. Speaking to mediapersons, the CM said, “The government is awaiting the final copy of the UCC draft for Uttarakhand which has been finalised by an expert panel.”
The committee in the last one year visited different parts of the state and received 2.30 lakh suggestions through dialogue and correspondence with stakeholders, various sections of the society, religious organisations and intellectuals.
When asked whether the ongoing exercise on UCC at the level of the National Law Commission will delay its implementation in Uttarakhand, the Chief Minister said, “As soon as we get the draft expert panel report, we will move towards implementing it.”
Article 44 of the Constitution provides that state governments can enact a Uniform Civil Code, he said, adding that “the people of the state gave us a mandate on UCC in the 2022 general election and gave us a chance to come to power for the second time due to which we were able to move forward in the direction of UCC”.
On the question of excluding tribal customs from the UCC, Dhami said, “The expert committee has worked on all these aspects, it went to tribal areas and took suggestions from the people there and included them in the draft according to public sentiment.
After getting the report, it will also be assessed, the Chief Minister said, adding that the government will not hurry, will not delay its implementation. Describing the state government’s move as a hasty move, Congress state spokesperson Garima Dasauni termed the entire exercise of the state government as “futile”. “Why is the state government bent on wasting precious time and money of the people of the state when the matter is being raised in the upcoming session of the Lok Sabha on July 20?”
