Why the Congress won’t attend UCC hearings in Rajasthan

On July 5, Dotasra wrote to the Chief Secretary saying that the party “will be forced to completely boycott this public hearing” unless the draft is first made public.

“Before implementing any law or inviting public comments, making its draft public is an essential part of the democratic process, so that the public and parties concerned can study its provisions and submit their suggestions and objections. However, without making any draft public, the government seeks to initiate an improper debate in society under the guise of a public hearing, which is a direct attack on the fabric of social harmony in the state and threatens it,” Dotasra said in the letter.

“Such a debate raises serious concerns among people of different religions, castes, and tribes about their rights, traditions, and customs. This type of public hearing is likely to create feelings of animosity between different sections of society. The Congress party categorically opposes any debate that threatens to undermine the social harmony and goodwill in the state,” he said.

The Rajasthan UCC committee, chaired by former Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai, has former IAS Shatrughan Singh, Additional Advocate General Basant Singh Chhaba, former Principal of Government Law College, Sri Ganganagar, Ramswaroop Agarwal, and VSK director Shuchi Chauhan as members, along with Additional Chief Secretary (Home), Bhaskar A Sawant.

Justice (retd) Desai has been leading multiple state-level UCC drafting panels, including in Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal.

Former Uttarakhand Chief Secretary Shatrughan Singh has also been associated with multiple committees, including in Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

A Congress spokesperson said that Chauhan’s inclusion “puts another question mark on the impropriety and impartiality in an already problematic process”.

In his letter, Dotasra also said that UCC is an attempt to divert attention from more pressing issues: “Currently, the state’s medical system is in shambles. The public is neither receiving timely treatment nor access to essential medicines. Extremely unfortunate incidents, such as the deaths of pregnant women in government hospitals due to counterfeit medicines, have occurred. Beneficiaries are not receiving the benefits of the Rajasthan Government Health Scheme (RGHS). Inflation is at its peak, the state’s youth are searching for jobs, unemployment is steadily rising, and the youth are suffering from serious problems like paper leaks.”

“Similarly, the state’s education system has reached abysmal levels. School buildings are falling into disrepair, teacher positions are vacant, and students lack even basic amenities. Law and order in the state has completely collapsed. Shootings to extort money from businessmen are occurring daily. Incidents of abuse against women and girls are bringing shame to the state, and criminals roam freely,” he said.

“By not holding public hearings to resolve these burning public issues, the government is trying to divert the attention of the public from the basic problems of the state. If a public hearing is held to address the aforementioned public problems of the state’s common people, all Congress party workers will be ready to participate and offer their valuable suggestions to the government. This meaningless public hearing, which disrupts social harmony and is being held without a draft, has no legal authority or justification,” he said, asking the CS to “withdraw” public hearings under UCC.