- UCC committee collected suggestions on marriage, divorce, and adoption.
- Diverse stakeholders offered views; tribes’ exclusion widely suggested.
- CM expects UCC bill; opposition calls it political agenda.
Bhopal: A committee headed by Justice Ranjana Desai (retd) has received oral and written suggestions from various stakeholders, including political representatives and religious leaders, as part of the process of finalising the draft Uniform Civil Code for Madhya Pradesh.
The suggestions, submitted on the final day of the deadline on Monday, were largely focused on issues related to marriage, divorce, children, and adoption laws, officials said.
The government is preparing to introduce the UCC bill in the monsoon session of the legislative assembly, beginning July 20.
Meetings were held throughout the day on Monday at the Naronha Academy of Administration in Bhopal to gather views before the draft is finalised. Individuals, organisations, government departments, political parties, religious leaders, and representatives of various commissions participated in the consultations.
Justice Desai (retd) was not present at the meeting. Committee members, including former Uttarakhand Chief Secretary Shatrughan Singh, academicians Gopal Sharma and Dr Shobha Vethankar, senior advocate Anoop Nair, and social worker Budh Pal Singh, heard the suggestions presented by stakeholders.
All oral and written submissions were recorded by the government, according to an official statement. “The suggestions mainly covered various subjects such as marriage, divorce, children, and adoption laws,” it said.
Representatives of several government departments, including Tribal Affairs, Home, Women and Child Development, Revenue, Education, Public Health, and Prisons, made presentations linking the proposed UCC with provisions under their respective schemes.
Officials from political parties, including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Communist Party of India (Marxist), and the Indian National Congress, also shared their views. Religious leaders from Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, and Buddhist communities presented their perspectives before the committee, the statement said.
The committee later sought the opinions of public representatives and citizens of Bhopal district.
UCC drafting committee member Shatrughan Singh told PTI Videos that it is important to understand the views of society before implementing the draft bill.
Millions of people have submitted their suggestions on the website created for this purpose, and Monday’s meeting was held in response to it, he said.
Discussions were held on Monday with several commissions directly dealing with matters related to family law, as well as with departmental officials, Singh informed.
All political parties and religious leaders were also consulted, and the UCC Bill will be finalised after considering everyone’s views, he said.
Many suggestions were also made regarding Scheduled Tribes, the most prominent of which was that they should be excluded from its scope. Many other suggestions were also made on this issue, he added.
Some religious leaders opposed live-in relationships and expressed their reservations.
Bhopal Shahar Qazi Mushtaq Ali Nadvi urged that Muslim Personal Law should not be altered through the UCC, while Archbishop Durai Raj emphasised that all religions should be respected.
Raj also stated that tribal communities belong to different faiths and should not be associated with any particular religion or caste.
Chief Minister Mohan Yadav recently said a bill to implement the UCC would be introduced in the upcoming monsoon session and expressed hope that it would be passed in the session with the blessings of Lord Mahakal.
Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee president Jitu Patwari criticised the proposed implementation of the UCC, describing it as a political agenda of the ruling BJP aimed at diverting public attention from pressing issues.
“Today, the youth of Madhya Pradesh are facing unemployment, inflation is rising, farmers are in distress, and the tribal community is concerned about its rights and security. Instead of addressing these core issues, the BJP government is seeking political advantage by promoting issues such as the UCC,” he alleged.
Patwari claimed that incidents of disappearances, atrocities, and harassment against tribal women are occurring frequently in Madhya Pradesh.
“If the UCC is so necessary, then the government should clarify how it will ensure the protection of the traditions, customs, cultural identity, and special rights granted by the Constitution to the tribal community? The government should clearly address the concerns of the tribal community,” he added.
Patwari alleged that discussions about implementing the UCC in states appear to be part of a deliberate strategy to divert public attention from inflation, unemployment, the economic crisis, and other important issues.
(Disclaimer: This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)
