Uttarakhand sets target of 100% marriage registration under UCC in next 3 months

Uttarakhand home secretary Shailesh Bagauli said the first UCC Day will be observed on January 27, 2026, with public awareness programmes to be held in every district

Dehradun: Uttarakhand home secretary Shailesh Bagauli on Thursday reviewed the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) across the state in a video conference with all district magistrates and directed them to intensify awareness drives and ensure compulsory marriage registration under the new law. He instructed officials to work in a “planned manner” to achieve full marriage registration within the next three months. So far 4,02,096 people have applied for registration of marriage/acknowledgement of registered marriage on the UCC portal.

The Uttarakhand government rolled out the implementation of Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Act in January this year. (Representational image)

Bagauli said the first UCC Day will be observed on January 27, 2026, with public awareness programmes to be held in every district. He also sought suggestions from District Magistrates for the event’s outline.

Emphasising grassroots outreach, the home secretary said that once the monsoon season ends, information on the UCC must be disseminated at the village level through special camps. Village heads achieving 100% marriage registration in their areas will be honoured.

Progress reports presented during the meeting showed that Bageshwar (63%), Champawat (60%), Rudraprayag (58%), Pauri Garhwal (50%), Uttarkashi, and Chamoli (49%) are currently leading in marriage registration, while other districts have been asked to accelerate efforts.

Bagauli also directed that the registration process be expedited through Common Service Centres (CSCs) to improve accessibility.

The Uttarakhand government in January this year had rolled out the implementation of Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Act in the state, making the Himalayan state the first state in the country after Independence to implement UCC.

UCC refers to a common set of laws that will subsume customary laws across faiths and tribes and govern issues such as marriage, divorce, inheritance and maintenance. In the Constitution, it is a part of the non-justiciable directive principles of state policy. The UCC legislation has provisions for equal rights for women in inheritance in ancestral properties, equal rights to adopt, divorce and a ban on polygamy, mandatory registration/self-declaration for live-in relationships, mandatory registration of marriage and divorce, with common marriageable age as 18 for women and 21 for men.