Uttarakhand brings ordinance to give co-ownership rights to women in husband’s property

The Uttarakhand state government has brought an ordinance that will give co-ownership rights to the women in the ancestral property of their husbands.

The ordinance by the government has been brought in view of the large-scale migration of men from hilly areas of the state in search of livelihood. It was passed at a Cabinet meeting which was chaired by the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Trivendra Singh Rawat.

Subodh Uniyal, the Agriculture Minister further added that Uttarakhand has become the first state to give co-ownership rights to women in the ancestral property of their husbands.

While describing it as the biggest reform of the government, the Chief Minister mentioned that Uttarakhand has set a precedent for other states of India to follow.

वर्ष 2008 में जब मैं, प्रदेश का कृषि मंत्री था तो सीमांत जनपद चमोली में मेरी मुलाकात श्रीमती विश्वेश्वरी देवी जी से हुई। उन्होंने बड़े तार्किक ढंग से यह बात रखी कि पति की संपत्ति में महिलाओं को बराबरी का अधिकार होना चाहिए और उनकी ये बात हमेशा मेरे साथ रही pic.twitter.com/wZwj0LTldp

— Trivendra Singh Rawat (@tsrawatbjp) February 20, 2021

आज जब मैं, प्रदेश का मुख्यमंत्री हूं तो मुझे बेहद ही खुशी है कि हमारी सरकार ने विश्वेश्वरी देवी जी की मन की इच्छा को पूरा किया और प्रदेश की लाखों महिलाओं को उनका अधिकार दिलाया। मातृशक्ति का आशीर्वाद सदैव बना रहे ताकि आगे भी हम इसी प्रकार के जनहित निर्णय लेते रहें।

— Trivendra Singh Rawat (@tsrawatbjp) February 20, 2021

Objective:

The ordinance by the Uttarakhand government aims at providing economic independence to women who have been left behind and have to depend on agriculture in order to sustain themselves.

The move will facilitate women who have been working in the fields owned by their husbands especially in the hilly areas of the state. The land ownership rights, so far in Uttarakhand, are transferred directly to men in the family which is then further passed on to their sons.

Why the co-ownership of property is significant for women?

In the hilly areas of Uttarakhand state, husbands and wives are involved in farming on their land to sustain themselves.

However, it has been observed, that husbands are mainly involved in just heavy-labor intensive work such as ploughing the field while around 90 percent of farming-related work is done by the wives. Despite this much effort, women don’t’ have any form of ownership over the piece of land.

Since there is no ownership, they are not able to take any form of loan for any farm-related work. But once this amendment will be introduced in the aforementioned Act, women will also have the ownership rights of the land along with their husbands and they will be able to take out loans independently.

Approval of legalising residential-non-residential buildings without maps:

The State Cabinet also approved the decision of legalising the residential and non-residential buildings that do not have their maps.

The buildings will be legalised in a one-time settlement. The application fees, for the residential building in hilly areas, will be Rs. 2,500 and in plain areas, it will be Rs. 5,000.

The application fees, for the non-residential buildings in the hilly areas, will be Rs. 5,000 and in plain areas, it will be Rs. 10,000.