Uttarakhand’s resident commissioner in Delhi Ajay Mishra said preparations for the implementation of UCC are in full swing.Mishra, who recently held an orientation session with the district magistrates of all 13 districts of the state regarding its execution, said training of inter-departmental personnel is in an advanced stage.Dangwal, who has been part of the committee that drafted the UCC and also the one which laid the rules for its implementation, described provisions aimed at bringing about gender parity in matters of marriage, divorce and inheritance, treating all children as legitimate including those born of void or voidable marriages, simplifying the process of preparing a will and regulating live-in relationships as the most outstanding in the UCC.”Gender parity across all religions is the spirit of UCC. That is the reason why the UCC draft committee got overwhelming support from women of all sections while holding public dialogue to take people’s suggestions on the draft of the code,” she said.Around 72 such dialogues were held with a cross section of people during which around 2.30 lakh suggestions were received, she said.”Another remarkable feature of the UCC is that it treats all children as legitimate. We have in fact totally done away with the term illegitimate in the context of children, ” Dangwal said.”The UCC has often been charged with legalising live-in relationship. I think all we have done is regulating live-in relationships and providing necessary safeguards against any possible fraud in their name,” she said.Talking about the UCC’s provisions, Supreme Court advocate Ashwini Upadhyay, who is a strong votary of the law, said the provision setting equal marriageable age for men (21) and women (18), grounds of divorce and procedures across all religions, ban on polygamy and Halala will put an end to many social evils.On the UCC banning polygamy, he said, “If a wife cannot have two husbands at the same time, how can a husband have more than one wife?”
Source link
