BHOPAL: The draft Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in Madhya Pradesh will be ready by July 5 and the bill for its implementation will be introduced in the Assembly’s monsoon session starting July 20, Cabinet minister Chetanya Kashyap said on Tuesday.
“At the Cabinet meeting, CM Mohan Yadav told the ministers that more than nine lakh suggestions about UCC have been received. Almost 90% of people who have given suggestions, including many from the minority communities, are in support of UCC,” Kashyap told reporters.
The government sent over 3.5 crore text messages to people, inviting suggestions about UCC. “It was a mega campaign through which we received 9 lakh to 10 lakh suggestions.
Keeping in mind the public sentiment, we’ll possibly introduce the UCC bill in the monsoon session,” the minister said. “The committee formed for preparing the draft UCC will include possible suggestions by June 30. The draft UCC will be prepared by July 5,” Kashyap said.
The state government’s announcement of readying the UCC draft by July 5 came a day after the committee formed for preparing the UCC draft held meetings with stakeholders in Bhopal. Out of the six national political parties invited to put forward their suggestions/concerns, only representatives of the ruling BJP and opposition CPI(M) turned up before the committee members.
State Congress president Jitu Patwari posted a video on X, calling the government’s move to implement UCC a tactic to shift attention from real issues. “Before holding UCC discussions, kindly discuss how many guarantees have been fulfilled. Will UCC take care of the traditions of tribals who number over 1.60 crore or 21% of MP’s population,” he said.
The BJP, through its state secretary Rahul Kothari and ex-IAS officer SS Uppal, submitted suggestions on nine points, including marriage and divorce, succession and property rights, adoption and maintenance, guardianship, modernisation and digitisation, care for the elderly and specially abled, right to matrimonial property, fast track legal justice in matters related to marriage, divorce and maintenance and special rules for NRIs marrying in India.
The BJP delegation demanded that if an NRI man marries in India, then the marriage should be registered. They also demanded that provision be made to cancel transfer of ancestral property to such children who abandon their elderly parents and maintenance allowance be deducted from their income.
Concern over live-ins
Leaders from Hindu, Muslim and Christian communities raised concerns about the possibility of live-in relations being legitimised under UCC. Muslim religious leaders were most critical. “Why is UCC being implemented first at the state level? It should be followed nationally after debate in Parliament,” Bhopal’s Shahar Qazi Syed Mushtaq Ali said.
