Overview
- Assam’s cabinet, which met Wednesday, approved a draft Uniform Civil Code and set May 26 for the bill to be introduced during the May 21–26 Assembly session.
- The draft, modeled on frameworks in Uttarakhand, Goa and Gujarat, would set a minimum marriage age, ban polygamy, grant daughters equal inheritance rights, regulate live-in relationships, and require registration of marriages and divorces.
- Tribal communities in both hill and plain areas are excluded from the code, and religious rituals, customs and traditions will remain outside its scope.
- The cabinet adopted the BJP election manifesto as its governing playbook and formed a chief secretary–led task force to map out 200,000 government jobs in five years with a report due in three months.
- A six-month cost-cutting drive will pause new government vehicle purchases and foreign trips by officials, shrink VIP convoys, target a 20% cut in fuel use, curb foreign-made purchases, and move seminars online.