Uttarakhand Uniform Civil Code: The Uttarakhand government on Monday rolled out the Uniform Civil Code. The rules manual for the UCC and a portal for applications under the new rules were inaugurated by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami at the CM’s camp office in Dehradun.
The Cabinet had approved the rules manual on January 20. On January 13, the Uttarakhand government began training its officials to help familiarise them with the UCC portal.
Officials said online portals have been developed for citizens and officials, featuring Aadhaar-based verification, AI-based translation services in 22 Indian languages, and data integration across more than 13 departments/services (e.g., birth-death registrations, district/high courts, etc). These portals are cloud-based and equipped with disaster recovery systems.
An official source said: “The government has set separate fees for expedited registration under the Tatkal service. The registration and termination process for live-in relationships has also been simplified. Termination applications by one partner will require confirmation from the other partner. In testamentary succession, wills can be uploaded on the portal for online registration, modification, revalidation, or revival.”
Apart from the portal, the state government has authorised Common Service Centres (CSCs) to facilitate online registration. In remote and mountainous areas, where internet access is limited, CSC agents will provide door-to-door services to ensure that citizens can avail of these facilities
In rural areas, Village Panchayat Development Officers have been appointed as sub-registrars to provide registration services at the local level, ensuring easier access for rural citizens.
A five-member expert panel was formed to frame a report, led by retired judge Ranjana Prakash Desai, and based on this, the Uniform Civil Code Bill, 2024, was passed in the Assembly on February 7, 2024. The Act was notified on March 12, 2024, after assent from the President. Though the committee formed to draw up rules for implementing UCC submitted its report to the government on October 18 and the government planned to have the UCC in place before November 9, the state’s 24th Foundation Day, this could not happen as the training of staff was not yet complete.
