Shillong, May 27: Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma on Wednesday said the exclusion of tribal customary laws from the ambit of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in states such as Uttarakhand and Assam had offered him “slightly more comfort” with the idea, though he stressed that Meghalaya would examine any proposal in detail before taking a position.

Speaking to reporters, Sangma noted that the term “Uniform Civil Code” was too broad to react to without knowing its actual provisions. “UCC is a… what does that UCC mean, and what are the codes that will be universal, that is what I need to see,” he said, adding that earlier opposition stemmed from concerns over the possible impact on tribal customary practices and the state’s matrilineal system.

He explained that recent developments in other states had provided reassurance, as both Uttarakhand and Assam had exempted tribal laws from their UCC frameworks. “Now, we have seen the context of it and how the UCC is coming out in different states, I am slightly more at comfort because… they are not touching tribal laws,” Sangma said.

The Chief Minister emphasized that Meghalaya would still need to carefully study any future proposal before arriving at a final position. “We were worried that our matrilineal system… will be changed and a national law will come in that will completely change the way the tribals in our state follow the matrilineal system. These are the things that bother us, but once we started seeing different laws being passed, we could see at least in paper the tribal rights were protected in one way,” he said.