NEW DELHI: Madhya Pradesh chief minister Mohan Yadav on Wednesday strongly backed the implementation of a Uniform Civil Code (UCC), saying there should not be different personal laws for people of different religions and that everyone should be treated equally under the law.Addressing the inauguration of a new 300-bed building at the Indore District Hospital, Yadav said the state government was moving ahead with plans to introduce a UCC Bill during the monsoon session of the Madhya Pradesh Assembly beginning July 20.“When our country is one, why should there be different laws for people of different religions? If a person named Ramchandra marries once, then a person named Rahim can also be expected to marry only once,” he said.His remarks came after the committee constituted to prepare a draft Uniform Civil Code for Madhya Pradesh submitted its report to the chief minister. The report has now been forwarded to the state’s law department for further action.The committee, headed by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai, recommended excluding tribal communities from the scope of the proposed UCC.The high-level panel was tasked with studying existing laws relating to marriage, divorce, maintenance, inheritance, adoption and live-in relationships. According to Yadav, the committee interacted with people from different religions, communities and political parties and collected suggestions from more than 10 lakh citizens across the state.The chief minister said the state government was committed to implementing the Uniform Civil Code.He also alleged that the Congress viewed the issue through a ‘Hindu-Muslim perspective’ and chose not to participate in the consultation process.“I would like to say responsibly that on the UCC too, the Congress adopted its usual double-faced stance. Due to concerns about its vote bank, the Congress did not attend the committee meeting and did not express its opinion on the UCC,” he said.Yadav also referred to the Bhojshala dispute in Dhar, saying the state government would abide by the Supreme Court’s decision in the case.“The state government is committed to abide by the court’s decision. Whatever the court decides, we will accept it seriously and proceed to implement it,” he said.(with inputs from PTI)
