The Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas), 1996, or PESA, is a law adopted by the Indian government to ensure self-government for people living in India’s Scheduled Areas through traditional Gram Sabhas.
The Fifth Schedule of the Indian Constitution designates territories as Scheduled Areas. Scheduled Areas are usually found in 10 Indian states where tribal populations are the majority.
Let’s get in-depth and understand the PESA Act in its simplest form.
Understanding The Act
The Panchayat (Extension of the Scheduled Areas) Act (PESA) was enacted to ensure self-governance for people residing in scheduled areas through Gram Sabhas (village assemblies).
It recognises the right of tribal communities and scheduled area citizens to govern themselves through their forms of self-government, as well as their customary rights to natural resources. PESA achieves this goal by empowering Gram Sabhas to approve development plans and control all social sectors.
The act covers, among other things, the systems and persons responsible for enforcing regulations, controlling minor (non-timber) forest resources, minor minerals and minor water bodies, administering local markets, preventing land alienation and regulating intoxicants.
PESA Laws
In Chhattisgarh, the Congress government made PESA an election issue, promising to pass measures under the Act to devalue power and strengthen the Gram Sabhas.
Singh Deo, as panchayat minister, began a series of meetings with village-level leaders from all of the scheduled regions almost a year ago. The tribal leaders spoke to the minister about the complexities of ten broad themes ranging from dispute settlement to mining and market management to minor forest produce management.
After extensive consultations, a nine-chapter draft of the rules was created.
PESA Act 1996 laws have been drafted by six states, with Chhattisgarh being the seventh.
Importance Of Rules Under The Act
Residents of scheduled areas can strengthen their village-level bodies under the PESA act 1996 laws by transferring power from the government to the Gram Sabha, which comprises all of the village’s registered voters. Gram Sabhas have powers to maintain cultural identity and tradition, control plans that impact tribals and control natural resources within a village’s boundaries.
According to the PESA Act, Gram Sabhas can, thus, retain a safety net over their rights and surroundings in the face of external or internal conflicts. Its implementation is impossible without adequate laws as it is an exercise in redistributing authority from institutionalised structures to village members.
Once the laws are in place, Gram Sabhas will have the authority to make judgments about their customs and traditionally managed resources and the minerals being mined in their territories.
According to the rules, any and all agencies working in their village must keep the Gram Sabha informed, which can approve or prohibit operations inside the village bounds.
The regulations also grant Gram Sabhas control over resource management, including tribals’ three major demands: Jal, Jangal, and Zameen (water, forest and land); minor forest produce, mines and minerals, markets and human resources.
Within its village bounds, the Gram Sabha would have the authority to supervise and restrict the manufacture, transportation, sale and consumption. It also has a responsibility to keep the peace in the village and handle problems that arise, as well as to conserve tribal customs and traditions and encourage customs such as ghotul.
Three Key Provisions Of The PESA Act 1996
- The Gram Sabha has absolute powers under the Act, although the state legislature has given Panchayats and Gram Sabhas an advisory role to guarantee proper operation.
- Gram Sabhas have the right to be consulted before land acquisition under Section 4 I of the PESA.
- If the Gram Sabha does not exist or has not been created, the permission of the Panchayats or the Autonomous District Councils must be secured.
The PESA Act provides a more effective means to strengthen tribal hands in the greater interests of social justice and grassroots democracy. However, there is considerable evidence that state governments have not attempted to implement PESA earnestly.
Gram Sabha institutions must be transformed into effective bodies of district administration rather than being considered solely as local government entities.