GUWAHATI: The Assam cabinet on Wednesday approved the draft Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Bill.
Briefing media persons on the cabinet’s decisions, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the UCC Bill would be tabled in the state Assembly on May 26.
He said the Bill would deal with matters such as property succession, marriage, live-in relationship, compulsory registration of marriage and divorce.
“Uttarakhand, Goa and Gujarat have already passed UCC. We have completely exempted tribals, as well as religious rituals, customs, practices and traditions from the purview of UCC,” Sarma said.
“Our decision on UCC is in sync with our last election commitment,” he added.
One of the BJP’s biggest election promises was to give two lakh government jobs in the next five years. Sarma said the cabinet decided that a task force, headed by the chief secretary, would be formed to look into it.
The task force will submit its report to the government in three months.
The cabinet also approved the construction of the Bhupen Hazarika museum at the Sankardev Kalakshetra in Guwahati at a cost of Rs 32 crore.
The North Eastern Council will contribute Rs 13 crore, while the state government will allocate Rs 19 crore, Sarma said.
Austerity measures
Responding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal in light of the global West Asia crisis, the Assam government decided to take several austerity measures.
Sarma said the state government would not buy any new vehicles in the next six months and make do with the existing ones.
He said, "For six months from tomorrow, no officer or employee of the state government will be allowed to go abroad, even with their own expenses, except for medical reasons. I have requested officials to organise seminars and workshops online. Also, the convoys of the Governor, the chief minister, ministers and senior officials will be downsized, at least for six months.”
The state government also decided to cut down expenditure on fuel by 20%.
Over the next six months, the government will not purchase any foreign products to save foreign currency.
Sarma said the cabinet decided that the BJP’s election manifesto would be adopted as a guiding principle of governance.
To a query, he said the expansion of the cabinet could take place in the first week of June.