UCC a necessity, govt committed to implementing it, says Himachal CM after BJP manifesto release

Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], November 6 : Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jairam Thakur on Sunday said that the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code in the state is the commitment of his government and it will be done.
This comes after the party's national president JP Nadda released the election manifesto for the Assembly elections in which the party vowed to implement the UCC after the formation of the government again.
Calling the UCC a "necessity", Thakur reiterated the party's commitment to its implementation.
"It's very important. BJP is a national party and we feel it is a necessity. There are technical aspects but a committee will be constituted. We'll go ahead on the path that will come out. Implementing UCC is our commitment and we'll do it," he said while speaking to ANI.
The Chief Minister said that the Old Pension Scheme, though not been announced in the manifesto, has not been shut down and is under consideration.
"OPS (Old Pension Scheme) is a matter under consideration. We've not announced it but we're not shutting it down. The manner in which they're (Congress) trying to do it, similar announcements were made by Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh 10 months ago. The papers have not even moved forward," he said.
Earlier today, the BJP chief detailed the 11 commitments of the party going into the polls hoping to retain the government.
"First commitment is that the BJP government will bring Uniform Civil Code here. A committee of experts will be set up and according to their report, UCC will be implemented in Himachal. The second commitment is that the Rs 3,000 per year will be added to the Mukhya Mantri Annadata Samman Nidhi, besides the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana. Nearly 10 lakh farmers will be connected with this," Nadda said.
Nadda said that the party will increase the job opportunities in the state in a phased manner.
"Our third commitment is that our government will increase the job opportunities of over 8 lakh in a phased manner. This will include govt jobs and works underway in the economic zone. Our fourth commitment is that the BJP government will ensure that all the roads are connected with the pucca roads under the PM Gramin Sadak Yojana in the next five years," he said.
The BJP chief informed that the governmnet will launch programme 'Shakti' to develop infrastructure and transportation nearby religious places.
"Our fifth commitment is that the BJP will launch a programme named 'Shakti' under which Rs 12,000 crore will be spent in 10 years to develop infrastructure and transportation around religious places and temples. They'll be connected to the 'Himteerth' circuit'. Our sixth commitment is that the government will the GST on the material used by the farmers for the packaging of apples will be 12 per cent and the additional GST of the material will be borne by the state government," he said.
He also promised to open five new medical colleges in the next five years and doubling of the mobile clinic vans aiming to provide regular health checkups to far-off places.
"Our seventh commitment is that the government will open 5 new medical colleges in the state. The mobile clinic vans will be doubled in every constituency so that health could reach the doorsteps of the people. Facilities of regular health check-ups will be provided. Our eighth commitment is that the government will introduce startup Yojana to promote startups for youth.
A corpus of Rs 900 will be brought to include the youth in the startups," he added.
The BJP chief said that the government will increase the ex-gratia given to the soldiers killed in the line of duty, as the ninth commitment.
"Our tenth commitment is that the government will conduct a survey and the Waqf properties will be investigated under the judicial commission as per the law. We will work to stop the illegal usage of Waqf properties," Nadda said.
"Our eleventh commitment is that the government will remove the discrepancies in the remunerations of government employees," he added.