The Uttarakhand government has resolved to bring a Uniform Civil Code in the state, the draft of which has also been submitted to the administration. Meanwhile, a 4-part report of the UCC panel was made public on 12 July which stated that people are migrating from the mountains to the plains due to which the urban populace has increased very rapidly. Notably, people from other states have also contributed to the growing numbers. Importantly, the population of Muslims and Christians in the state have expanded by more than twice as much as those of Hindus and Sikhs.
The report of the Uttarakhand Uniform Civil Code panel has drawn attention to the changing demography. The population of Uttarakhand is rising swiftly in the plains, but it is declining in the steep regions. Migrants from other states have made the most contribution to this. As per the Statistical Diary of Uttarakhand 2021-22, urban areas in plains saw a ‘population growth of 30.23%’ in the decade 2001-11, primarily driven by migration, as reported in Chapter 2 of its first volume. However, over this same period, there has been an “absolute decline” in the population of the two hill districts of Almora and Garhwal.
According to Election Commission data, there has been a “sharp increase of about 30%” in the number of voters in the state’s plains during the past ten years, based on the report. This is significantly greater than the average decadal population growth rate, per the report, which also suggested a sharp spike in migration from other states. The research added that the state’s plains are home to a sizable number of religious minority groups. For instance, the Muslim population in the districts of Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar is, respectively, 34.3% and 22.6%.
According to data from the most recent census, approximately 10% of people living in Udham Singh Nagar identify as Sikh. It noted that between 2001 and 2011, Muslims and Christians experienced an average yearly population growth rate of almost 3.9 per cent, surpassing that of Sikhs (1.15%) and Hindus (1.60%). During the same time frame, the Jain population also experienced a decline.
98% of the recommendations from the state’s “hill belt” were in favor of the UCC, with only 2% being against it, according to the data and pie charts offered in the panel report. There has apparently been a large migration from other states onto the plains, where the situation is very different. Just 38% of the suggestions that were submitted here supported the UCC, while 62% opposed it. Similarly, 99% of the panel’s recommendations from a personal field visit indicated support for UCC in the hilly region. 8% of the recommendations were against UCC in the case of plains, compared to 92% in support.
The public can now access the entire report as of 12th July evening because previously the Uttarakhand government had only made the report’s highlights available. The report is available for everyone at https://ucc.uk.gov.in/. On 27th May 2022, the Pushkar Singh Dhami government formed a five-person committee to draft the UCC. Retired Judge Ranjana Desai chaired the committee when it was formed. 2.33 lakh people submitted recommendations for UCC to the committee via a variety of channels and 43 public dialogue programs. Afterwards, the committee sent the UCC report to the government on 2nd February of this year.
Chief Minister Dhami presented the UCC draft to the assembly on 7th February, after the committee’s submission of their findings and it was passed by a voice vote there. Uttarakhand then went on to become the first state in the nation to implement UCC. President Draupadi Murmu accepted the UCC Bill on 11th March after it was brought to her for enactment. Pushkar Singh Dhami declared that Uttarakhand would implement it in October.
