The Madhya Pradesh Assembly has approved a Uniform Civil Code Bill, placing a major personal-law reform debate before the State legislature. The Bill matters for UPSC because it connects a live political decision to Article 44 of the Constitution and to long-running questions on equality, social reform, and religious diversity.
What happened
The ruling side presented the Bill as a reform meant to create a single framework for several personal-law issues. The Congress opposed the measure and described it as an RSS-style ideological agenda rather than a neutral legal reform.
Background and earlier position
The Constitution places the Uniform Civil Code in the Directive Principles of State Policy under Article 44. Directive Principles are not directly enforceable in court, but they guide the State in policy-making and are often used in debates on social reform. The national debate on uniform civil law has remained politically sensitive because personal laws touch marriage, divorce, inheritance, adoption, and related family matters.