Biswanath, Assam: A significant press meet was held Wednesday at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) district office in Biswanath, where newly elected Biswanath MLA Pallab Lochan Das spoke in detail about the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) and its implications for ensuring equal rights for all citizens.
Addressing the media ,the MLA said that the purpose of bringing the UCC in is to give equal legal rights to each section of the society irrespective of gender or religious community. He stressed that the law is a measure to remove the inequalities which exist in personal laws.
The proposed changes in the UCC will guarantee that women and men are treated equally in terms of marriage and divorce. He also pointed out that there have been major changes in property rights, underlining that daughters would now have equal rights with their sons in the inheritance of ancestral properties.
The MLA also added that the new framework would allow for the legalisation of live-in relationships, and that couples in these relationships would be registered and receive the same legal protection and rights as any other relationship.
The fundamental aim of the UCC is to ensure the protection of women's rights and the removal of gender-based discrimination from personal laws, said Pallab Lochan Das. The new law will provide uniformity and fairness in various segments of the society, he added.
It may be noted that Assam’s Chief Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, has taken a significant step towards the implementation of Uniform Civil Code. On 27th May , a historic step was taken when the state government advanced the process of converting the UCC into a bill, thus making Assam the third state in the country to take the step towards implementing such a framework.
The proposed arrangement includes uniform legal age and conditions requirements for marriage, , standardized grounds for divorce and alimony, equal distribution of property, and mandatory registration for live-in relationships. The bill, once finalised, requires presidential assent from Droupadi Murmu to become law.