The Uttarakhand Assembly on Wednesday passed the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Bill 2024 by voice vote with Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami terming it a “historic moment” in the country.

Addressing a media briefing after the assembly session, Dhami said that today is a special day for the hill state since a bill that was long awaited has finally been passed in the Assembly.

“This is a law to give equal rights to all. It’s a law that will promote unity … it is not against any particular individual,” Dhami said.

Earlier, Dhami in his address before the passage of the bill, said a very meaningful discussion was held on UCC on Tuesday and Wednesday by both ruling and Opposition MLAs. “Our state got the opportunity despite there being many big states in the country. This is a historic opportunity. This is not a normal law, but a law that will provide a common legal framework for all. I hope other states will also table the UCC bill. I also want to thank the people of the state on this occasion. Every person in the state must be feeling proud today,” the CM said.

The bill has provisions for equal rights for women in inheritance in ancestral properties, equal rights to adopt, divorce and a ban on polygamy, mandatory registration/self-declaration for live-in relationships, mandatory registration of marriage of marriages and divorce, (common marriageable age, 18 for women and 21 for men. The bill has also provided an exemption to notified Scheduled Tribes from its ambit.