Assam To Introduce Strong UCC, Polygamy Ban Legislation Following Uttarakhand, Confirms CM Sarma

Assam To Introduce Strong UCC, Polygamy Ban Legislation Following Uttarakhand, Confirms CM Sarma

Uniform Civil Code:  Following the footsteps of Uttarakhand, the Assam government is planning to bring its version of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Monday. The state is also looking to bring legislation to ban polygamy, CM said. The Chief Minister while interacting with the media said that originally the state government was initially planning to bring a law to ban polygamy, however, after the introduction of UCC in Uttarakhand, it is looking forward to ‘harmonising’ the law with the UCC.

“The polygamy Bill and the UCC were both discussed by the Assam Cabinet on Saturday. We were planning to implement a law to ban polygamy; however, Uttarakhand recently approved the UCC Bill. We are currently attempting to align both of these concerns to draft strong legislation,” Sarma said.

The Chief Minister said that a committee of experts will look into how polygamy and UCC might be included in the same law. The UCC Bill passed by the Uttarakhand Assembly prohibits polygamy and designates it as a civil violation.

“We considered establishing polygamy as a criminal offence. We will align these since a unified policy is needed for the nation. I shall discuss the best course of action with our central leadership to address the issue,” Sarma said.

“Assam was working on polygamy. The UCC has become a new thing. The UCC is only banning polygamy making it a civil offence. But we were thinking of making polygamy a criminal offence. The country needs a uniform policy and we are going to align this. For that, I had a round of discussions with the central leadership also that in which direction we should go. I will have to sit with the expert committee. Yesterday cabinet said that we have to align these two. These are long-term reforms. My expert committee will sit again. If the report is ready we will do this in this session, otherwise in the next session,” the Assam Chief Minister said.

He also said that child marriage has now stopped in 70 per cent of areas in the state.

Talking about the new scheme Punya Tirth Yojana – Ayodhya Pilgrimage announced in the state Budget 2024-25, the Assam Chief Minister said that the state will send 25,000 pilgrims to Ayodhya in the 2024-25 financial year.

(With inputs from IANS, ANI)