Assam CM To Monitor Uttarakhand UCC Move; Will Examine Its Possible Implementation In Assam

GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, on Friday, said that the state government is scrutinizing the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) draft bill being prepared by the Uttarakhand government to ascertain if the same can be implemented in the northeastern state in entirety.

The Assam CM's remarks comes just hours after the five-member committee formed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Uttarakhand submitted its draft report to chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami in Uttarakhand on Friday.

“We will closely monitor the development of Uttarakhand. If the Uttarakhand Bill is tabled in the state assembly on February 5, we will see if we can implement it entirely. Our assembly session will start on Feb 12, so we have some time,” CM Sarma told the media in Guwahati.

CM Sarma informed that his government is preparing an act to outlaw polygamy in Assam and the state's law department is vetting the same.

Earlier, he had said that his government would implement the UCC but will exempt the tribal population from its jurisdiction.

“Uttarakhand and Gujarat will bring UCC first and Assam will follow them with some new additions to those Bills, which will be an Assam model,” Sarma had stated last month.

The CM added,“I am waiting to see the UCC Bill of Uttarakhand and once that is done, we will bring the same legislation, but since we are working against child marriages and polygamy, there will be some innovation to it. In Assam, the tribal community will be exempted from the ambit of UCC.”

Furthermore, CM Sarma said that if public consultation regarding the UCC bill can take place in 2-3 months, it will soon be introduced in the Assam assembly. He also went on to say that a wider consultation will be required if it gets a little bit complicated.

“All will depend on the Uttarakhand and Gujarat Bills, but Assam will be the third state (to implement UCC)”, he had further added.

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