A day after taking oath, the new Assam Cabinet, in its first meeting on Wednesday, announced to table a draft Uniform Civil Code Bill and said that it would be introduced in the newly elected state Assembly on May 26. The government also unveiled a series of austerity measures.
Himanta Biswa Sarma was sworn in for a second consecutive term as chief minister on Tuesday along with four Cabinet ministers. Following the first Cabinet meeting, Sarma announced that the Assam Legislative Assembly session would be held from May 21 to 26, during which newly elected MLAs would take the oath, Indian Express reported.
Sarma said that the Bharatiya Janata Party manifesto had been adopted as the guiding framework for the government’s functioning over the next five years. He stated that the draft UCC Bill had received Cabinet approval and would be tabled in the Assembly on May 26.
According to him, the proposed law would exclude tribal communities and areas protected under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.
The BJP manifesto had identified implementation of a UCC as one of its key promises, while exempting tribal communities and Sixth Schedule areas.
The manifesto had also promised legislation against what it termed “land jihad” and “love jihad”, along with more eviction drives, increased “pushbacks” of declared foreigners and expansion of welfare schemes.
According to the chief minister, the proposed UCC Bill would address issues such as the minimum age of marriage, prohibition of polygamy, women’s property rights, regulation of live-in relationships and compulsory registration of marriages.
On the promise of providing two lakh additional government jobs, Sarma said that the Cabinet had constituted a task force headed by the Chief Secretary to prepare a roadmap within three months.
The Cabinet also announced several austerity measures, which Sarma said were in line with a recent call by Narendra Modi for fiscal restraint.
Among the measures announced were a six-month ban on the purchase of new government vehicles and restrictions on foreign travel by ministers, officials and government employees, even at personal expense.
The government also decided to reduce convoy sizes, cut expenditure on petrol and diesel by 20% compared to the previous year, avoid purchasing foreign goods for six months and suspend in-person government seminars and workshops during the same period.