Overview
- A high-level committee led by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai submitted its three-volume UCC report to Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on Monday and the report has been forwarded to the state Law Department for legal examination.
- The panel expressly recommended that Scheduled Tribes be kept outside the UCC, a significant decision given that Adivasis make up about one-fifth of the state’s population.
- The committee’s draft bill is detailed and wide-ranging, written in four parts with 404 sections and seven schedules, and it incorporates analysis of more than 958,000 public suggestions gathered in district, state and online consultations.
- The government will move the draft through revisions by a senior-secretaries committee and cabinet approval before likely tabling it in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly’s Monsoon Session starting July 20.
- Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has pressed the Opposition Congress to state its position and the proposal follows BJP-led UCC initiatives in other states, raising the prospect of heated political debate and possible legal challenges if the bill is introduced.