By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 17 Jan: The Uniform Civil Code Bill is very likely to be tabled in the state assembly during the special session at the end of this month. Sources claim that the Dhami Government is seriously mulling summoning a special session at the end of this month.
Apart from the UCC Bill, the government is also planning to table the bill that provides for 10 percent horizontal reservations in state government jobs for statehood activists or their dependants. It may be recalled that a bill providing for reservations in the government jobs for the statehood activists had been passed in the past, too, but it had been dismissed by Uttarakhand High Court on technical grounds. Recently, another bill was tabled in the last assembly session. Though that bill had also been supported by the Opposition members, some members of the treasury benches including Munna Singh Chauhan and Vinod Chamoli had pointed out some technical discrepancies and had expressed apprehensions that the bill may again be nullified by the High Court. On their suggestion, the whole house had consented that the bill be referred to a select committee to make necessary improvements.
The select committee chaired by Parliamentary Affairs Minister has submitted its final report to the Speaker in this regard, suggesting some changes.
Speaking informally with media persons, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prem Chand Aggarwal indicated today that a special session may be called soon and the bills related to UCC and 10 percent horizontal reservation for statehood activists may be passed.
It may be recalled that Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, going into the last assembly elections, had promised early implementation of the Uniform Civil Code in Uttarakhand. After the elections, he had set up a committee headed by Justice (Retd) Ranjana Desai, comprising former Chief Secretary Shatrughna Singh and Prof Surekha Dangwal (Vice Chancellor of Doon University) besides social activist Manu Gaur. This committee’s term was extended several times and it was speculated that the CM had developed cold feet in this regard because there were some objections to the UCC draft by the tribals. However, finally, some changes were made to deal with the objections raised by the tribal community. Now, the draft has been finalised and is likely to be tabled in the upcoming special session which may last up to two days.
It may further be pointed out that the previous session has not been prorogued and, hence, the special session can be summoned anytime in continuation, without the formalities of summoning a fresh session.
