Assam CM Outlines Key Legislative Priorities, Including Polygamy Ban and Marriage Registration Bill

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced the government's focus on marriage registration and banning polygamy. Sarma highlighted ongoing initiatives against child marriage and inter-religion marriage regulation. Additionally, the Centre has directed UIDAI to issue Aadhaar cards to nearly 935682 individuals in Assam who provided biometrics.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday emphasized the state government's commitment to prioritizing the marriage registration bill and its intent to ban polygamy. "The Assam government hasn't decided on the entire Uniform Civil Code (UCC); we are focusing on the Muslim registration bill, which we've mandated. The registration of marriage and divorce will now be conducted by a sub-registrar instead of a 'Kazi'. The next step will be to ban polygamy while closely monitoring judicial developments in Uttarakhand," Sarma stated.

In his address, CM Sarma stressed that Assam's approach varies from other states. "We are not aiming to introduce a comprehensive UCC as our focus is different. Our efforts are directed towards combating child marriage and protecting women from exploitation. Our stance is distinctly separate," Sarma clarified.

Sarma detailed that the state government has multiple ongoing agendas. "Our next measure will be the polygamy ban. We are also working on regulating inter-religion marriages. By next April, we aim to address four to five major agendas," he added.

Earlier, the CM announced that the Centre has instructed the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to issue Aadhaar cards to individuals who provided their biometrics between February 2019 and August 2024. Sarma thanked the Centre for simplifying the lives of 935,682 people affected by the previous halt in Aadhaar card distribution.

"The Centre had stopped distributing Aadhaar cards to 935,682 people in Assam, who gave their biometrics between February 2019 and August 2024, most unrelated to NRC. The state government has been working diligently to resolve this issue over the past two years," Sarma explained. He further mentioned the formation of a cabinet subcommittee to address this issue and extensive discussions with both state and central governments, which culminated in the Centre's directive on August 27, 2024, to issue Aadhaar cards to the affected individuals.

(With inputs from agencies.)