What is meant by Uttarakhand's Uniform Civil Code?

In a four day session to be held in the month of February, the Uniform Civil Code Bill for the state of Uttarakhand is most likely to be passed by the Uttarakhand State Assembly. The final report of the Uniform Civil Code for the state has been submitted to Pushkar Singh Dhami, the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand. Here is everything you need to know about the Uniform Civil Code for the state of Uttarakhand.

The UCC- What does it seek to do?

The aim of the Uniform Civil Code is to bring about a set of laws that is uniform in nature, in order to replace the various personal laws of multiple religions relating to marriage, adoption, inheritance, and divorce. Article 44 of the Indian Constitution makes it mandatory that the state secures a uniform civil code throughout India for its citizens. 

For a very long, there has been a debate in the Constituent Assembly for whether the provision of a Uniform Civil Code should be included in the list of fundamental rights or should be considered as a directive principle of state policy. Most of the Muslim members of the Constituent Assembly were of the opinion that a uniform civil code would result in diluting the rights of all the religious minorities in the country. They were of the view that a uniform civil code would actually destroy the diversity of India. However, the long debate came to an end with establishing that the uniform civil code should not be a part of the fundamental rights. It is interesting to note that the matter was decided by a close majority vote of 5:4.

However, K.M. Munshi was of the view that a Uniform Civil Code would not actually bring down the freedom of religion. K.M. Munshi contended that the state holds the power to create laws and regulations related to religious practices in situations where they are intended to bring about social reforms. There are various benefits of a uniform civil code that Mr. K.M. Munshi contended. One of them is that a uniform civil code fosters equality for women. This proves to be fruitful in situations where personal laws hinder with the end of discriminatory practices against women in the country.

It was Dr. B.R. Ambedkar who stated that while the Uniform Civil Code is actually desirable, it should remain "voluntary" at the time of the initial stages. He further stated that the provision shouldn't be imposed on all the citizens of the country and should remain only recommendatory.