Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced on Wednesday that the state government is prioritizing the Marriage Registration Bill, with the next step being a ban on polygamy.
“The Assam government hasn’t made a decision on implementing the entire Uniform Civil Code (UCC). Instead, we’re focusing on the Muslim Marriage Registration Bill, which we’ve made compulsory. Under this bill, the registration of marriages and divorces will be conducted by sub-registrars rather than ‘Kazi.’ Our next move is to ban polygamy, and we’re closely monitoring judicial developments in Uttarakhand regarding the UCC,” Sarma said.
The Chief Minister emphasized that Assam’s approach differs from a comprehensive UCC, as the state is addressing specific issues.
“We’re not aiming to introduce a broad UCC because our approach is different. We’re focusing on combating child marriage and the exploitation of women. Our stance is distinct,” Sarma explained.
Sarma added that the Assam government is currently working on several key initiatives.
“Our next step will be to ban polygamy. We’re also working on regulating inter-religious marriages. By next April, we have four or five major agendas to implement,” he said.
In a separate announcement, the Assam CM revealed that the central government has instructed the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to issue Aadhaar cards to individuals who provided their biometrics between February 2019 and August 2024.
Addressing a press conference, Sarma expressed gratitude to the central government for this directive, which will benefit 935,682 people.
“The Centre had paused the distribution of Aadhaar cards to 935,682 people in Assam who gave their biometric data between February 2019 and August 2024, many of whom have no connection to the National Register of Citizens (NRC),” Sarma said.
He further noted that the state government has been actively working for the past two years to resolve the issue and ensure the release of Aadhaar cards.
“We formed a cabinet sub-committee to address this issue and engaged in discussions with various organizations and the Government of India over the last two years. On July 29, 2024, the state government formally requested the Centre to release Aadhaar cards to these individuals. On August 27, 2024, the Centre directed UIDAI to issue the cards,” Sarma added. (With PTI Inputs)