Uttarakhand CM meets PM Modi on state's UCC draft

New Delhi, Jul 5: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Tuesday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, amid reports that the state's UCC draft is likely to be the template for the Central law. The meeting with PM Modi comes just hours after the Uttarakhand Chief Minister met Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

 

 

 

The draft for the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) prepared by the state of Uttarakhand may prove to be the template for the Centre's draft, according to sources quoted by news agency ANI. As the debate rages on among different political and social quarters in the country, Dhami met Shah late night on Monday to discuss the UCC. The chairperson of the Uttarakhand UCC drafting committee justice Ranjana Prakash Desai was also present at the meeting, sources said.

 

 

 

Uttarakhand CM Dhami said the full draft will soon be submitted by the UCC drafting committee in the state. "As per the promise made to the state's people, today on June 30, the committee formed to prepare the draft of the Uniform Civil Code has completed its work. Soon Uniform Civil Code will be implemented in Devbhoomi Uttarakhand. Jai Hind, Jai Uttarakhand!" he tweeted earlier. The idea of the Uniform Civil Code has received 'overwhelming' support said the Uttarakhand UCC Draft committee chairperson Justice (Retd) Ranjana Prakash Desai, she further added that the draft is complete and the recommendations suggested by the committee headed by her will help in strengthening the secular fabric of the society and will empower women. The chairperson Desai said, "Our emphasis is to ensure gender equality, with keeping women, children and disabled persons in focus. We have tried to bring everyone on an equal footing with the elimination of arbitrariness and discrimination," she told reporters, adding that the committee has studied existing laws in various countries, including Muslim nations.

 

Also Read: UCC draft is prepared: Expert Committee on UCC in Uttarakhand 

 

"We have seen everything, studied personal laws. We have also studied the Law Commission's report. If you read our draft you will feel that the committee has considered everything," she said. The committee has met 63 times and has also tried to understand the 'finer nuances' of the various customary practices followed in various regions of Uttarakhand. The sub-committee interacted with about 20,000 people during the public consultation exercise, the committee received altogether 2.31 lakh written submissions from people," she added.