Uniform Civil Code: Uttarakhand clears decks for rollout with Cabinet approval to UCC rules

The Uttarakhand Assembly cleared the Uniform Civil Cide Bill, 2024, in February last year. (File photo: PTI)

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami-led Cabinet in Uttarakhand on Monday approved the rules for the Uniform Civil Code which the state government hopes to implement soon. Following Cabinet approval, the rules manual is likely to be announced after the local body elections, currently underway in the state, conclude on Thursday.

Set to become the first Indian state to roll out the UCC, its rules manual includes provisions for tatkal registration, door-to-door services in remote areas and a state-wide mock drill on January 21, The Indian Express reported citing sources.

"We had announced in 2022 that our first work will be UCC after the government is formed. The committee framed the draft and it was passed with the President’s assent. The training is in the final stages and we will soon announce the dates for the implementation… We have discussed the rules today," CM Dhami told reporters after the meeting at the state secretariat today.

According to officials, 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.

"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," a statement from the state government read.

The training programme for officials began in the state on January 13 to help familiarize them with the UCC portal. The government targets to train 10,000 village development officers (VDO) under the CSC scheme by January 24, 2025. District-wise nodal officers have been appointed, and a helpline has been established to address portal-related queries. For legal queries, district-level prosecution department officers have been designated, it added.

The state government has also authorised Common Service Centres to facilitate online registrations on the portal. CSC agents have also been directed to travel door to door in remote areas where internet access is limited. For easier access to rural citizens, the government has appointed Village Panchayat Development Officers as sub-registrars to provide registration services at the local levels.

The Uttarakhand UCC portal has three options for stakeholders to log in for citizens, service centre staff and officials and mandate Aadhaar details to sign up.

The list of services provided on the portal includes registration of marriage, divorce, and live-in registrations, termination of live-in relationships, intestate succession and declaration of legal heirs, testamentary successions, appeal in cases where application is rejected, access to information, and complaint registration.

The Uniform Civil Code Bill, 2024, was passed in the state Assembly on February 7 last year, and notified on March 12, 2024 after the President's assent. The Bill was based on a report submitted by a five-member expert panel led by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai.

The rules had been framed and submitted to the government by a committee formed for the purpose on October 18 but was delayed on account of incomplete training to officials and staff.