West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Thursday, 2 July convened a high-level meeting with the state's top administrative officials to assess the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government's performance in its first two months in office. The review, held in Kolkata, covered the rollout of development and welfare programmes initiated under Adhikari's leadership, as well as the prevailing law and order situation across the state.

Cabinet Meeting and UCC Bill Draft

Later in the day, Chief Minister Adhikari chaired a state cabinet meeting, where the most significant item on the agenda was the proposed Uniform Civil Code (UCC) bill for West Bengal. According to sources familiar with the proceedings, the draft of the UCC Bill was placed before the cabinet for approval.

'The draft of the UCC Bill will be brought for approval by the state Cabinet at the meeting today. It has already been decided that the final Bill will be drafted by a newly constituted committee headed by the former Supreme Court judge Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai (retired). The new committee will submit its recommendations on the draft Bill, which will be cleared at the state cabinet meeting today, within the next four weeks. Based on the recommendations, the final Bill will be drafted and tabled on the floor of the Assembly in August this year,' a source aware of the development said.

Who Will Be Exempt from UCC

Addressing the state Assembly on 29 June, Chief Minister Adhikari had clarified that the state's tribal communities, indigenous people, Kurmis, and other recognised ancient tribal groups would be kept outside the purview of the proposed law. He noted that this exemption follows the model adopted by Uttarakhand and Gujarat in their respective UCC frameworks.

West Bengal as the Fourth UCC State

The core objective of the bill is to replace religion-based personal laws with a single, uniform legal framework applicable to all residents of the state. If enacted, West Bengal would become the fourth Indian state to implement the UCC, after Gujarat, Uttarakhand, and Assam. Notably, the UCC was a central promise in the BJP's election manifesto for West Bengal, and the new government is now moving to deliver on that commitment within its first hundred days.

What Happens Next

The Justice Desai-led committee is expected to submit its recommendations within four weeks, after which the final bill will be drafted and introduced in the state Assembly. The legislative tabling is targeted for August 2025, setting up what could be a defining political and legal moment for the state — and a closely watched test case for UCC implementation at the state level in eastern India.