In an official move towards the implementation of Uniform Civil Code (UCC), the Rajasthan government has set up a committee of former Supreme Court judge, Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai, to draft the law.
The committee will carry out comprehensive public consultations in the divisional headquarters and seek suggestions using a special website to keep the entire process transparent and inclusive, said State minister Jawahar Singh Bedham. The Rajasthan government also explained that the proposed bill will not apply to tribal communities.
The decision would make the state the fifth in the past 2 years where the BJP government is setting the ball rolling on enacting UCC. In February 2024, Uttarakhand was the first state to pass UCC legislation, and Gujarat and Assam were also taking strides with their own UCC-based policies.This was the first UCC law to be enacted in a state in February 2024, and Gujarat and Assam had begun to roll out their own UCC-based policies. Madhya Pradesh already has a committee, and it is likely that there will be a UCC bill introduced in the next session of the assembly.
The draft Uniform Civil Code aims to bring uniformity in civil laws relating to personal laws of marriage, divorce, inheritance, succession etc. and phase out religious laws. The goal is to remove the gaps in the law and to establish equal rights and equal responsibilities, officials said.
Proposals under consideration include compulsory registration of marriage and divorce, prohibition on polygamy, compulsory registration of live-in relationships and the equal right to inheritance of ancestors.
The UCC is still one of the BJP’s long standing ideologies. Well, the Rajasthan government has announced that it will be making a balanced act that marks the social dynamics of the state, and also supports fairness, equality and clarity of law for all the people under its jurisdiction.
UCC is already launched in states such as Uttarakhand and Gujarat. And now, Rajasthan will also become a part of the same in the next few months.