Uttarakhand govt constitutes panel to implement Uniform Civil Code

Dehradun, May 27: Keeping a pre-poll promise, the Uttarakhand government on Friday constituted a panel of experts headed by a retired Supreme Court judge to implement a Uniform Civil Code for the state. The panel is headed by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai, Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said in a Facebook post. "This is to impart uniformity to all religious communities and to conserve the culture of Devbhoomi," he said. "In accordance with a commitment made in our vision document at the time of Uttarakhand assembly polls, an expert committee headed by honourable Supreme Court Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai has been constituted," he said in the post. In the last leg of campaigning for the state assembly polls held in February, Dhami had said that an expert panel to implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) would be set up soon after the BJP is re-elected to power. Keeping his commitment, the proposal for setting up a committee for drafting Uniform Civil Code was cleared at the very first meeting of the state cabinet chaired by Dhami. Once implemented, Uttarakhand will be the second state after Goa in the country to implement it, Dhami said. Dhami is of the view that the rest of the states in the country should also follow the examples of Goa and Uttarakhand. According to a government notification issued late Friday night, apart from retired justice Desai who is the chairperson of the committee on UCC, the panel will also include retired justice Pramod Kohli, social worker Manu Gaur, retired IAS officer Shatrughna Singh and the chancellor of Doon University Surekha Dangwal as members. (Source: Vartha Bharati)