The Uniform Civil Code (UCC) committee, formed by the Uttarakhand government in May this year, has received more than 2.5 lakh suggestions to date, the Times of India reported quoting its sources.

The committee received notable suggestions including compulsory registration of marriages and divorces, a regulation mechanism for live-in relationships, uniform policy on the number of children a couple can have in order to control the population, focus on ‘gender equality’, raising the marriageable age of women to 21, equal rights for daughters in ancestral properties, and legal rights for ‘LGBTQ couples’.

A source familiar with the matter has told TOI that “Ensuring ‘gender equality’ is the foremost priority of the committee.”
“The committee has been flooded with suggestions as people are concerned about the population explosion. They ask what will happen to human rights and how will we ensure equality and rights to children from weaker sections of the society? The committee will take all the suggestions seriously before finalising the report,” the Indian Express has reported quoting its sources.

“Many suggestions have come on compulsory registration of marriages to prevent cheating. Another suggestion is to ensure the registration of live-in relationships so that cheating and fraud can be avoided. It is also to ensure rights for the children born out of live-in relations. With the Supreme Court decriminalising homosexuality, there is a clamour for legal backing for protecting the rights of ‘LGBTQ couples’,” the Indian Express has further reported.

In May, this year, the Uttarakhand government formed a five-member expert committee led by former Supreme Court judge Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai to implement UCC and to check all the relevant laws that control personal matters for those living in the state.