Panel To Draft UCC To Be Set Up Soon, Peace Won't Be Allowed To Be Disrupted: Uttarakhand CM

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Saturday said a high-level committee will soon be set up to draft a Uniform Civil Code and communal amity in the state will not be allowed to be disrupted at any cost.

Once the Uniform Civil Code is introduced in Uttarakhand, other states should follow suit, he said after inaugurating the Kranti Diwas Mela at Peethsain in Pauri district in the memory of Veer Chandra Singh Garhwali, the hero of Peshawar Kand. Chandra Singh Garhwali, who had joined the Garhwal Rifles during the British rule, had defied a British captain's order to fire on unarmed protesters at Peshawar in 1930. He and his entire platoon were prosecuted for treason. Garhwali was jailed for 11 years.

After being released from prison, he was involved in India's struggle for Independence. Dhami said the Cabinet, at its first meeting, cleared a proposal to constitute a high-level panel of experts to draft a Uniform Civil Code. The panel will be set up soon, he said. 

Uttarakhand is a state where peace prevails and it has to be preserved, he said. "Apart from being Devbhoomi (land of gods), Uttarakhand is also Sanyabhoomi (land of soldiers). The communal amity and social peace in the state won't be allowed to be disrupted at any cost," Dhami asserted.

The government has planned to conduct a drive to verify the antecedents of people coming to Uttarakhand in large numbers so that dubious elements don't succeed in disrupting the peace, the chief minister said. 

Referring to the development works being carried out in the state under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said Uttarakhand is one of the developing states at present. 

Dhami said that under the leadership of Modi, an effective battle was fought against COVID-19 in Uttarakhand where vaccine doses were being given for free and infections are well in control.

(With PTI inputs)