GUWAHATI, May 14 -- The Himanta Biswa Sarma led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Assam, in its first cabinet meeting after returning to power, approved implementation of the uniform civil code (UCC) in the state. Sarma said that a legislation in this regard would be tabled in the assembly on May 26, the last day of the first session of the new assembly. "All tribal people in Assam, both residing in hills and plains, will be kept outside the purview of UCC. All religious rituals, customs and traditions will also be out of its ambit," he added. Assam has a tribal population of 12.45%. It also has a Muslim population of 34.22% according to 2011 census, and will be the first state with a significant Muslim population to push for UCC. Uttarakhand became the first state in the country to implement a Uniform Civil Code in 2024; Gujarat passed a bill adopting UCC earlier this year, but its yet to be formalised as a law; and Madhya Pradesh has set up a committee this year to prepare a draft UCC. To be sure, Goa has always had a uniform civil code, with the Goa Civil Code beingdrawn from the Portugese Cicil Code. The uniform civil code is a proposed set of common civil laws that will replace religion-specific personal laws in matters like marriage, divorce, inheritance, and adoption. Along with the construction of a Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, and the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu & Kashmir, it has been a constant in BJP's manifesto for years. Sarma said the code willregulate minimum age of marriage, protect the right of women to family property, abolish polygamy, recognise live-in relationships, andmandate compulsory registration of marriages anddivorces. In other decisions, thecabinet approved formationof a task force headed by the chief secretary to submit a report within three monthson how the government can provide 200,000 jobs in the next five years as promised in BJP's manifesto. The BJP-led alliance won102 seats in the 126-member assembly with a vote share of 37.81% in results to the assembly elections declared last week. It also followed up on Prime Minister Narendra Modi'scall for austerity in view of the economic challenges India faces on account of thecrisis in West Asia, deciding not to procure any new government vehicles for the nextsix months, reducing other purchases of foreign products, and also cutting down on government convoy sizes and foreign tours. Sarma said the government will reduce its fuel consumption by 20%. "We decided that government officials won't be given permission to take foreign tours for the next six months for both official and personal trips," Sarma said. "There will be an exception for medical cases," Sarma added....