West Bengal Moves to Fast‑Track Uniform Civil Code, Plans Anti‑Conversion and Land Limits

Overview

• Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said the government will bring a Uniform Civil Code very soon and that a cabinet‑nominated committee led by retired Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai has four weeks to review a draft bill.
• Adhikari signalled on Tuesday that the UCC will be followed by a stringent anti‑conversion law, which officials say is aimed at stopping alleged forced religious conversions funded from abroad.
• The chief minister also announced the intention to introduce legal restrictions on land purchase and sale in affected areas, though he did not provide text or details of what those limits would require.
• At the same Bankura Paschimanchal Unnayan Parshad meeting the government allocated Rs 1,610 crore for development of western districts and set a three‑month timetable for project reports, tenders, and post‑Puja execution.
• The move builds on the BJP manifesto promise to implement a UCC and echoes measures from other BJP‑ruled border states, meaning the changes could alter inheritance, marriage and property rights and reshape administration in frontier districts.