UCC bill to be passed in West Bengal Assembly in August: Senior official
The bill for implementation of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in West Bengal will be passed in the assembly next month, a senior functionary of the state government said on Friday.
The West Bengal cabinet on Thursday approved the formation of a committee to examine the draft UCC bill and the panel will have four weeks to scrutinise the draft legislation and submit its recommendations.
"August is a month of many significant events in the country. The Quit India movement began this month. India got independence in August.
Khudiram Bose was martyred in August and there are many other historical events. By August this year, another significant event will happen. We will pass the UCC bill in Bengal assembly," the functionary said.
Earlier this week, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari formally launched the process to implement the UCC in West Bengal.
Since 2014, three states have adopted the UCC bills —Uttarakhand, Gujarat and Assam and West Bengal is set to become the fourth. The West Bengal UCC bill aims to standardise civil laws across all communities regarding marriage, divorce, inheritance, and adoption. The bill is similar to the models in Uttarakhand and Assam in key parameters.
The UCC was one of the BJP's key electoral promises in the 2026 Assembly polls. The party came to power ending the Trinamool Congress's 15-year rule in the state. Talking about the priorities of the BJP government in Bengal, the functionary said every month, at least two new industries are coming to the state and the trend will continue for many months to come. Adhikari on June 12 had said that his government would bring the Tata Group back to the state.
However, he had said, the land at Singur on which Tata Motors had set up a car factory is no longer with the state government as it had been returned to the farmers by the previous Mamata Banerjee-led government.
The functionary also said that ever since the BJP government came to power in West Bengal, about 10,000 illegal immigrants were handed over to the Bangladesh authorities along the border after verifying their Bangladeshi nationality.
About 1,800 more illegal Bangladeshi immigrants are kept in holding centres in West Bengal and they would also be sent back to the neighbouring country.
On June 23, Adhikari had said his government has identified thousands of illegal immigrants and begun deporting them while assuring genuine Indian citizens they would not be affected, irrespective of their faith.
