In first meeting after govt formation, Assam cabinet approves UCC in state

The UCC legislation is to be tabled in the assembly on May 26, with the new assembly session starting on May 21.

The first session of the new assembly will begin on May 21.

Sarma indicated that expansion of the cabinet will happen around the first week of June after the conclusion of the first session of the new assembly.

The cabinet appointed Advocate General Devajit Saikia for another five years.

The concluding ceremony of the birth centenary celebrations of Bharat Ratna Bhupen Hazarika will be held at New Delhi and a museum on the cultural icon will be constructed at a cost of ₹32 crore in Guwahati.

The cabinet decided not to purchase any foreign-made products for six months and no offline seminars or workshops will be held for that period. Only electronic vehicles to be hired for government use as far as possible and all old vehicles will be scrapped.

Convoys of Governor, CM, ministers, elected representatives and officials would be reduced based on security; fuel cost on government vehicles to be cut by 20% in the next 12 months.

Officials won’t be permitted to take foreign tours for the next six months, with an exception for medical cases.

The cabinet decided not to procure any new government vehicles for the next six months as part of cost-cutting measures.

A task force headed by the chief secretary was approved to submit a report within three months on how to provide 2,00,000 jobs in the next five years as promised in the BJP manifesto.

The cabinet decided that the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) manifesto for the Assam election will guide policy for the next five years. It said the manifesto will form the foundation for government policies.

The code would regulate minimum age of marriage, abolish polygamy, set rights of girls in family property, cover live-in relationships and require registration of marriages and divorces, while excluding tribal people and religious rituals and traditions from its ambit.

The Assam cabinet, in its first meeting after the new government formation, approved implementing a customised uniform civil code for Assam, with tribal populations and religious customs exempted. It said a legislation will be tabled in the assembly on May 26.