The subject of population control may have been kept out of the ambit of the Uniform Civil Code made for Uttarakhand, but the expert committee that prepared the draft of the code has targeted the migration from the hilly areas of the state and the demographic changes in the plains in its report. Although this mention in the report is limited as a reference to the general introduction of Uttarakhand, but this indication is being seen as giving strength to the voices raised in the future regarding population control and new land law.
Population control was not taken into consideration
The expert committee constituted under the chairmanship of Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai to prepare the draft of the Uniform Civil Code was given the responsibility to work on, but population control was not taken into consideration in any of the points. For this reason, the committee also did not take this point into consideration in the draft prepared in relation to making the Uniform Civil Code a law. It is also worth noting that the topics that were the focus of the discussion on the need for a uniform civil code included the rapid demographic change in the region after the formation of the state of Uttarakhand. The expert committee kept a distance from this topic in its draft. It is a different matter that the committee has made a special mention of demographics and the rapid changes in Uttarakhand in the general introduction given about Uttarakhand in chapter two of section one of its report related to the concepts that support the uniform civil code.
Migration from the mountains is fast, population growth rate in the plains is 30 percent
The committee has cited the census of 2011 and has highlighted the rapid migration from the mountainous areas and the growth rate of 30.23 percent in the population in the urban areas of the plains from the year 2001 to the year 2011.
During the same period, the population rate in two mountainous districts Almora and Pauri has decreased rapidly.
The report also mentions migration from the areas of Uttar Pradesh adjacent to the plains of Uttarakhand. According to the population data, Hindus constitute 83 percent, Muslims 13.9 percent, Sikhs 2.3 percent, Christians 0.4 percent and Buddhists 0.1 percent of the population.
The number of religiously minority communities is higher in the plains of the state.
The Muslim population in Haridwar district and Udham Singh Nagar districts is reported to be 34.3 percent and 22.6 percent respectively. Among other minority communities, the population growth rate of Sikhs and Jains is much lower than that of Muslims and Christians.
The committee has also given details of the tribal population.
Increasing number of people coming from neighboring states
The expert committee has considered the state’s fast economic growth rate as a major factor for migration from inner and outer areas and population growth rate in the state. Referring to the data of the Migration Commission, it was told that between the year 2018 and the year 2022, 3.3 lakh persons migrated from the rural areas of the state. Between 2008 and 2018, i.e. in a period of 10 years, 5.2 lakh people migrated. The short-term migration has now taken a permanent form. As a result, 1792 villages in the hilly areas have turned into ghost villages. Most of these villages are near international borders, which are sensitive from the point of view of national security. Referring to the voter lists of the Election Commission, the expert committee has also mentioned a 30 percent increase in the number of voters in the plains.
The expert committee introduced the reality of Uttarakhand in the report: Shatrughan Singh
The expert committee has made it clear in the context of Uttarakhand that the demographic change in the state has accelerated. This has been an important factor behind the rapid rise in voices in support of the Uniform Civil Code. Under the Uniform Civil Code, both the subjects of population control and demographic change do not match with the laws related to the family.
In such a situation, population control and strict land laws in the future can be strengthened by these facts included in the report of the expert committee. Shatrughan Singh, who was a member of the Expert Committee and is currently the Chairman of the rule making committee being prepared for the Uniform Civil Code, said that the Expert Committee has included the facts of Uttarakhand in its report as an introduction.
