In a significant development, the Uttarakhand Cabinet met on Monday at the State Secretariat under the leadership of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and approved the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) manual. This approval follows an in-depth review by the Legislative Department, which had already examined the manual in detail.
Chief Minister Dhami expressed pride in fulfilling a key promise made to the people of Uttarakhand during the 2022 elections. “We had promised the people of Uttarakhand in 2022 that we would bring the UCC Bill as soon as our government was formed. We have kept that promise,” Dhami said. He further stated that the implementation dates for the UCC will be announced soon.
“The draft committee worked on it, the bill was passed, and the President approved it. It has become an act. The training process is almost complete, and after analyzing everything, we will announce the dates for implementation shortly,” Dhami added while addressing the media after the cabinet meeting.
The UCC Bill was introduced by the BJP government during a special session of the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly on February 6, 2025. It was passed with a comfortable majority on February 7, 2025. Following its passage in the state assembly, the bill was forwarded to President Droupadi Murmu, who signed it into law on March 13, 2025. This paved the way for Uttarakhand to potentially become the first state in India to enact the UCC.
The Uniform Civil Code aims to establish a unified set of personal laws that would apply to all citizens, irrespective of religion, gender, or caste. It will cover crucial areas such as marriage, divorce, adoption, inheritance, and succession. The UCC seeks to ensure equality before the law and promote social harmony by eliminating discriminatory practices based on religious and cultural differences.
Uttarakhand’s approval of the UCC manual marks a critical step toward the implementation of the law and could set a precedent for other states to follow in the future.
