Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma says, "The next step is banning polygamy."
Dispur (Assam) [India], August 28: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced on Wednesday that the state's focus is currently on the marriage registration bill, with the next step being the ban on polygamy.
"The Assam government is not considering the entire Uniform Civil Code (UCC) at this time. We are concentrating on the Muslim marriage registration bill, which we have made mandatory. Marriage and divorce registrations will now be managed by sub-registrars instead of 'Kazi'. Our forthcoming move is to ban polygamy, pending any judicial comments on the Uttarakhand UCC, which we are monitoring closely," Sarma stated.
Sarma emphasized that the Assam government's approach is distinct, addressing issues such as child marriage and the exploitation of women.
"We are not pursuing a comprehensive UCC. Our focus is different; we are combating child marriage and working to protect women. Our strategy is entirely separate," Sarma explained.
He outlined that the government has several priorities, including the ban on polygamy and regulation of inter-religion marriages, with plans to address these issues by next April.
In a separate update, Sarma revealed that the central government has instructed UIDAI to issue Aadhaar cards to individuals who provided their biometrics between February 2019 and August 2024.Â
Sarma expressed gratitude to the central government for this directive, which will ease the process for 935,682 people in Assam.
"The Centre had halted Aadhaar card distribution to these 935,682 individuals, many of whom had no link with NRC. The state government has been working on this issue for the past two years, forming a cabinet sub-committee and discussing the matter with various organizations. On July 29, 2024, we requested the centre to release the Aadhaar cards, and on August 27, 2024, UIDAI was directed to proceed with issuing them," Sarma added.