Cabinet Minister and spokesperson of MDA government Dr Ampareen Lyngdoh on Wednesday said, Meghalaya is unique which has matrilineal community and the state shall not be part of allowing Uniform Civil Code (UCC) to be operational here.
Talking to reporters, the lone female Minister in the Conrad Sangma led cabinet said, Meghalaya is a state with special privileges which are protected by the Sixth Schedule.
Dr. Lyngdoh said, UCC is a huge proposal which touches multiple aspects, and once the official notification comes to the state it will be dealt with accordingly.
“We as a state as you heard the chief minister’s comment are firm on this matter, we shall not be part of allowing UCC to be operational in the state of Meghalaya.”
Lyngdoh said no information has yet reached her office on whether the government has been asked to submit its views on the UCC.
The minister said she can understand with elections happening in certain states, there have been statements made by leaders of the country on the implementation of the UCC. Accordingly, there have been pre-actions based on those observations made in a public forum.
“The chief minister has been very candid about it. We have said that we are a state with special privileges. We are protected by the Sixth Schedule. The Sixth Schedule predominantly attends to personal laws in a large extent, matters of land, matters of marriage, matters of inheritance etc.”
She said it would be too early for her to comment on the subject matter because as per her own research, she has been told that there was a private member’s bill that was submitted to the Rajya Sabha, that bill was not taken up for discussion.
She said that whether or not it remains the agenda of the NDA, the NDA will have to call its partners in states before deciding and taking decisive decisions on matters which affect states.
Further, the minister said,“We have special privileges as per Constitution, we will fight to the hilt to ensure that our personal laws are not touched, we are unique, we are a matrilineal community – all of that has a full presence and understanding in the constitution and I am sure other states in the NE region will also likely have a similar view,” she said while adding that “I feel that UCC is a huge proposal, it does not touch only one aspect, it has lots of aspects, we will cross the bridge and deal with the problem once it comes to us officially but as of now to my information and knowledge it is still not there.”