Rajasthan Congress takes exception to public consultations on UCC without release of draft

The Opposition Congress in Rajasthan on Wednesday took exception to a series of public consultations on Uniform Civil Code (UCC) being organised by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the State without the release of draft legislation in the public domain. Rajasthan is the fifth BJP-ruled State to initiate action for enactment of UCC.

The State government has formed a high-level committee, headed by former Supreme Court Judge Ranjana Prakash Desai, to draft the legislative framework for UCC. The State Cabinet had decided to bring the UCC law and given the go-ahead for appointing the committee at its meeting convened here on June 22.

Changes under law

Key changes under the UCC include mandatory registration of marriages and divorces, a complete ban on polygamy, mandatory registration of live-in relationships, and equal rights for both sons and daughters in ancestral property. The BJP government has claimed that it is committed to drafting an “ideal and progressive” law that aligns with the State’s specific needs and social fabric.

While the Uttarakhand government enacted a UCC law in February 2024, Gujarat and Assam launched similar initiatives shortly thereafter. Madhya Pradesh has constituted a similar committee for the purpose, while Rajasthan is the fifth to follow suit.

The committee is holding public consultations at the division level for ensuring that the draft UCC Bill is “inclusive and transparent”. While the interaction in Jaipur has been scheduled for July 10 and 11, the citizens in the State have also been asked to submit their suggestions directly to the committee through a dedicated web portal.

‘Evading accountability’

Pradesh Congress Committee president Govind Singh Dotasra said that no feedback could be provided by the public without knowing what the proposed law contained. “The public hearings are being conducted without a draft because the government wants to evade accountability on fundamental issues,” Mr. Dotasra said.

The State Congress chief said the sole objective of the exercise was to strike a blow at social harmony in the State. He asked why the State government was not holding consultations on the real issues such as shortage of drinking water and electricity, rising crimes, pathetic condition of roads, farmers not getting seeds and fertiliser on time, and deaths of pregnant women in hospitals.

Other Congress leaders, including Leader of the Opposition Tikaram Jully and Minority Department chairperson M.D. Chopdar, said the complete draft of the UCC Bill should be brought into public domain before starting the consultation process with full transparency.s

‘Attention diversion’

While Mr. Jully said the BJP government was raising the UCC issue to divert attention from development, law and order and other public concerns, Mr. Chopdar declared that the party workers would protest on the streets if the UCC Bill was passed in the State Assembly. He said the BJP was targeting Muslims after the recent introduction of the anti-conversion law.

The UCC implemented in the BJP-ruled States has kept the tribal communities out of its purview, leading to questions about only the tribal autonomy being selectively safeguarded and imposition of regulations on others. After the UCC is enforced, the personal laws in the matters of marriage, divorce, property inheritance, adoption and maintenance will cease to exist.