In other news, Uttarakhand rolled out the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), in turn, becoming the first Indian state to do so.
The UCC implementation, according to Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, who inaugurated the rules manual and the portal app at his Dehradun camp office on Monday, is to standardise personal civil matters that have historically been discriminated against on the basis of caste, religion, gender and other criteria.
"ln exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (2) of section 1 of The Uniform Civil Code, Uttarakhand, 2024 (Act no 3 of 2024), the Governor hereby appoints the date 27 January, 2025 as the date on which the said Code shall come into force,"an official state notification read.
The UCC aims to standardise personal laws pertaining to marriage, divorce, succession, and inheritance. It requires that all weddings be registered within 60 days and lays down the requirements for marriage eligibility, including the legal age and mental ability of both spouses.
All citizens of Uttarakhand are covered by the Act, sans Scheduled Tribes and protected individuals.