Uttarakhand UCC rules may come into force on R-Day

New Delhi: The Uttarakhand cabinet has approved the manual rules of its Uniform Civil Code (UCC) on Monday. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has said that the state’s it could come into force on January 26.
After chairing a state Cabinet meeting in Dehradun, Dhami said that preparations for implementing the UCC in the state were nearly complete. “The training process (of officials) for the UCC implementation is almost complete. During the Cabinet meeting, we discussed implementing it as soon as possible. After reviewing everything, we will soon announce its implementation date,” the CM said.
In December, he had announced that the UCC would be implemented in January. With municipal elections scheduled for January 23 and results on January 25, sources said that the government could announce the UCC implementation after the model code of conduct is lifted, on the Republic Day. Sources said the rules will encompass registration of birth and death, marriage, divorce, and live-in relationships based on the 400-page report that the expert committee submitted to the state government in October 2024.
The state’s UCC law also provides for equal rights for women in inheritance of ancestral properties, a ban on polygamy, mandatory registration/self-declaration for live-in relationships, and mandatory registration of marriage and divorce. The state government is training 10,000 of its officials and has also developed a mobile application, and a web portal. The Uttarakhand government drafted its UCC Act based on a report by a government-appointed panel led by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai.