Jaipur: The Rajasthan Congress has threatened to boycott the state govt’s proposed public hearings on the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), alleging that the exercise lacks legal validity because no draft of the proposed law has been made public.Congress state president Govind Singh Dotasra in a letter to chief secretary V Srinivas urged him to immediately withdraw the hearings scheduled for July 6 and 7, warning that the party will stay away if the consultations proceed without a draft.Dotasra claimed the move had created apprehensions among different religions, castes and tribal communities regarding their rights, traditions and customs. He said the Congress opposed any initiative that could disturb communal harmony or create a feeling of hostility among different sections of society.“Such a debate is creating serious apprehensions among different religions, castes and tribes regarding their rights, traditions and customs. There is an apprehension that such a public hearing will create a feeling of hostility among different sections of society. The Congress Party clearly opposes any such debate that affects the social harmony and cordiality of the state,” he said.Dotasra said the govt had invited political parties to participate in public hearings on the proposed UCC despite not preparing or publishing a draft legislation. He argued that inviting public suggestions without placing the draft in the public domain violated the democratic process and rendered the consultation meaningless.Dotasra contended that such hearings, conducted without clarity on the proposed law, could adversely affect social harmony. He alleged that the government was attempting to trigger an unnecessary public debate on a sensitive issue without providing stakeholders an opportunity to examine the proposed provisions.Dotasra accused the BJP govt of diverting public attention from urgent governance issues by prioritising the proposed UCC consultations. He said the state was facing serious challenges, including a deteriorating healthcare system, medicine shortages, alleged fake medicine cases, problems in the RGHS, rising inflation, unemployment and repeated paper leak incidents.He also alleged that vacant teaching posts and poor infrastructure had weakened the education system, while law and order had worsened due to extortion, shootings and crimes against women. Dotasra said Congress would participate in public consultations focused on these pressing public concerns.
