PRI AND PESA

By: Dr. Piyush Chaubey

Panchayati Raj
Rural development is one of the main objectives of Panchayati Raj and this has been established in all states of
India except Nagaland, Meghalaya and Mizoram, in all Union Territories except Delhi and certain other areas.
These areas include,
 The scheduled areas and the tribal areas in the states
 The hill area of Manipur for which a district council exists and
 Darjeeling district of West Bengal for which Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council exists

Evolution of Panchayati Raj

There were a number of committees appointed by the government of India to study the implementation of self-
government at the rural level and also recommend steps in achieving this goal.
The committees appointed are as follows:
 Balwant Rai Mehta Committee
 Ashok Mehta Committee
 G V K Rao Committee
 L M Singhvi Committee

Balwant Rai Mehta Committee

The committee was appointed in 1957, to examine and suggest measures for better working of the Community
Development Programme and the National Extension Service. The committee suggested the establishment of
democratic decentralised local government which came to be known as the Panchayati Raj.
Recommendations by the committee:
 Three-tier Panchayati Raj system: gram panchayat, Panchayati Samiti and Zila Parishad.

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 Directly elected representatives to constitute the gram panchayat and indirectly elected representatives to
constitute the Panchayat Samiti and Zila Parishad.
 Planning and development are the primary objectives of the Panchayati Raj system.
 Panchayat Samiti should be executive body and Zila Parishad will act as the advisory and supervisory
body.
 District collector to be made as the chairman of the Zila Parishad.
 It also requested for provisioning resources so as to help them discharge their duties and responsibilities

Ashok Mehta Committee

The committee was appointed in 1977 to suggest measures to revive and strengthen the declining Panchayati Raj
system in India.
The key recommendations are:
 Three-tier system should be replaced with two-tier: Zila Parishad (district level) and the Mandal Panchayat
(group of villages).
 District level as the first level of supervision after the state level.
 Zila Parishad should be the executive body and responsible for planning at the district level.
 The institutions (Zila Parishad and the Mandal Panchayat) to have compulsory taxation powers to mobilise
their own financial resources.

G V K Rao Committee
The committee was appointed by the planning commission in 1985. It recognised that development was not seen
at the grassroot level due to bureaucratisation resulting in Panchayat Raj Institutions addressed as ‘grass without
roots’. Hence it made some key recommendations which are as follows:
 Zila Parishad to be the most important body in the scheme of democratic decentralisation. Zila Parishad to
be the principal body to manage the developmental programmes at the district level.
 The district and the lower level of the Panchayati Raj system to be assigned with specific planning,
implementation and monitoring of the rural developmental programmes.
 Post of District Development Commissioner to be created. He will be the chief executive officer of the Zila
Parishad.
 Elections to the levels of Panchayati Raj systems should be held regularly.

L M Singhvi Committee
The committee was appointed by the government of India in 1986 with the main objective to recommend steps
to revitalise the Panchayati Raj systems for democracy and development. The following recommendations were
made by the committee.
 The committee recommended that the Panchayati Raj systems should be constitutionally recognised. It also
recommended constitutional provisions to recognise free and fair elections for the Panchayati Raj systems.
 The committee recommended reorganisation of villages to make the gram panchayat more viable.
 It recommended that village panchayats should have more finances for its activities.
 Judicial tribunals to be set-up in each state to adjudicate matters relating to the elections to the Panchayati
Raj institutions and other matters relating to their functioning.

73rd Constitutional Amendment Act of 1992

Significance of the Act
 The act added part IX to the constitution, “The Panchayats” and also added the eleventh schedule which
consists of the 29 functional items of the panchayats.

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 Part IX of the constitution contains article 243 to Article 243 O.

 The amendment act provides shape to Article 40 of the constitution, (directive principles of state policy),
which directs the state to organise the village panchayats and provide them powers and authority so they
can function as self-government.
 With the act, Panchayati Raj systems come under the purview of justiciable part of the constitution and
mandates states to adopt the system. Further the election process in the Panchayati Raj institutions will be
held independent of state governments will.
 The act has two parts: compulsory and voluntary. Compulsory provisions must be added to state laws,
which includes creation of the new Panchayati Raj systems. Voluntary provisions, on the other hand, is the
discretion of the state government.
 The act is a very significant step in creating democratic institutions at the grassroots level in the country. The
act has transformed the representative democracy to participatory democracy.

Salient Features of the Act

 Gram Sabha: Gram Sabha is the primary body of the Panchayati Raj system. It is a village assembly consisting
of all the registered voters within the area of the panchayat. It will exercise powers and perform such
functions as determined by the state legislature.
 Three-tier system: The act provides for establishment of the three-tier system of Panchayati Raj in the
states (village, intermediate and district level). States with population less than 20 lakhs may not constitute
the intermediate level.
 Election of members and chairperson: The members to all the levels of the Panchayati Raj is elected
directly and the chairperson to the intermediate and the district level is elected indirectly from the elected
members and at the village level the Chairperson is elected as determined by the state government.
 Reservation of seats:
f For SC and ST: Reservation to be provided at all the three tiers in accordance with their population
percentage.
f For women: Not less than one-third of the total number of seats to be reserved for women, further not
less than one-third of the total number of offices for chairperson at all levels of the panchayat to be
reserved for women.
f The state legislatures are also given the provision to decide on the reservation of seats in any level of
panchayat or office of chairperson in favour of backward classes.
 Duration of Panchayat: The act provides for a five-year term of office to all the levels of the panchayat.
However the panchayat can be dissolved before completion of its term.
f But fresh elections to constitute the new panchayat shall be completed
y before the expiry of its five-year duration.
y in case of dissolution, before the expiry of a period of six months from the date of its dissolution.
 Disqualification: A person shall be disqualified for being chosen as or for being a member of panchayat if
he is so disqualified
f Under any law for the time being in force for the purpose of elections to the legislature of the state
concerned.
f Under any law made by the state legislature. However, no person shall be disqualified on the ground
that he is less than 25 years of age if he has attained the age of 21 years.
f Further all questions relating to disqualification shall be referred to an authority determined by the
state legislatures.
 State election commission:
f The commission is responsible for super-intendence, direction and control of the preparation of
electoral rolls and conducting elections for panchayat.

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f The state legislature may make provision with respect to all matters relating to elections to the
panchayats.
 Powers and Functions: The state legislature may endow the Panchayats with such powers and authority
as may be necessary to enable them to function as institutions of self-government. Such a scheme may
contain provisions with respect to
f the preparation of plans for economic development and social justice
f the implementation of schemes for economic development and social justice as may be entrusted to
them, including those in relation to the 29 matters listed in the Eleventh Schedule.
 Finances: The state legislature may
f Authorise a panchayat to levy, collect and appropriate taxes, duties, tolls and fees.
f Assign to a panchayat taxes, duties, tolls and fees levied and collected by the state government
f Provide for making grants-in-aid to the panchayats from the consolidated fund of the state.
f Provide for constitution of funds for crediting all moneys of the panchayats.
 Finance Commission: The state finance commission reviews the financial position of the panchayats and
provides recommendation for the necessary steps to be taken to supplement resources to the panchayat.
 Audit of Accounts: State legislature may make provisions for the maintenance and audit of panchayat
accounts.
 Application to Union Territories: The president may direct the provisions of the act be applied on any
union territory subject to exceptions and modifications he specifies.
 Exempted states and areas: The act does not apply to the states of Nagaland, Meghalaya and Mizoram
and certain other areas. These areas include,
f The scheduled areas and the tribal areas in the states
f The hill area of Manipur for which a district council exists and
f Darjeeling district of West Bengal for which Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council exists. However, Parliament
can extend this part to these areas subject to exception and modification it specifies. Thus PESA Act
was enacted.
 Continuance of existing law: All the state laws relating to panchayats shall continue to be in force until
the expiry of one year from the commencement of this act. In other words, the states have to adopt the
new panchayati raj system based on this act within the maximum period of one year from 24 April, 1993,
which was the date of the commencement of this act. However, all the panchayats existing immediately
before the commencement of act shall continue till the expiry of their term, unless dissolved by the state
legislature sooner.
 Bar to interference by courts: The act bars the courts from interfering in the electoral matters of panchayats.
It declares that the validity of any law relating to the delimitation of constituencies or the allotment of
seats to such constituencies cannot be questioned in any court. It further lays down that no election to
any panchayat is to be questioned except by an election petition presented to such authority and in such
manner as provided by the state legislature.

The challenges to the vision and institution of

Panchayati Raj.
Concerns related to Human Resource at Gram Panchayat (GP) level
 Non-accountability- Personnel at GP level are in most cases not accountable to the GP and the Gram
Sabha (GS), although they deliver crucial services like education, health and livelihood generation at that
level.
 Lack of Capabilities- Their capabilities are not built over a period to enable them to assume other
responsibilities or multi-task.

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 Lack of horizontal and vertical convergence of action at the GP level and vertical integration is not ensured
because of different departments and schemes under which they are appointed with specific mandates.
 Lack of oversight- There is poor oversight to check if the existing rules are being violated. Dependence
on employees is high if elected functionaries in Panchayats, especially GPs, lack administrative experience.
This can lead to exploitation of the situation by the staff or collusion between elected functionaries and
officials.
 Variation across states- Wide variation across States in terms of engagement - qualification and mode of
recruitment, duration, remuneration, travel allowances and other conditions for similar cadres.
 Variation in Remuneration- There is no additional remuneration paid by other departments for additional
work. This variation leads to migration of employees from one State to another; sometimes between one
schemes to another.
 No HR policy in majority of the States: At present, some governments such as Haryana and Rajasthan
have educational qualifications for candidates contesting elections for PRI’s. However, no state has clear
rules on how the non-elected staff at panchayats should be appointed.

Challenges faced by Elected Women Representatives (EWRs):

 Although women constitute approximately 44% of total elected representatives in PRIs, they face numerous
challenges such as:
 Lack of leadership skills: This makes it difficult for them to assert or even openly express their opinions.
Also due to social myths and prejudices as well such as tradition of remaining silent, leaves women silent
during panchayat proceedings.
 Male domination: Even after being, elected most of their work in panchayats is done by their husbands.
 General absence of EWRs from panchayat’s meetings due to discouraging attitudes of the
familymembers.
 Illiteracy, lack of awareness about the structure and functions of PRIs and lack of prior exposure to
participation in political processes also hinders the growth and development of women as leaders.

Issues related to finances

 Insufficient local revenue generation:Highlighted by Economic Survey 2017-18 as ‘Low Equilibrium
Trap’, local bodies appear to be not collecting revenues from taxes to the extent they can. This is largely
because:
 Most state governments have not devolved enough taxation powers to Panchayats,
 Even if states have given these powers, their collection is low due to their reluctance to tax locals and they
remain dependent on fund devolution.
 They are also unwilling to revise tax rates periodically.
 Unwillingness to borrow from Financial Institutions: Despite being empowered to access loans for
public infrastructure and service delivery, most Gram Panchayats have not borrowed making them unable
to plan effectively for long term.
 Non-implementation of recommendations of State Finance Commission: Being non-binding on state
government, they are not implemented in letter and spirit.

ISSUES RELATED TO FUNCTIONS

 Unscientific distribution of functions between different tiers: There is very little actual devolution of
functions and authorities by the States to PRIs. The roles and responsibilities of local governments remain
ill defined despite activity mapping in several States.
 Creating parallel bodies (often fiefdoms of ministers and senior bureaucrats): Legislative approval to these
bodies legitimises the process of weakening decentralised democracy. For example: Rural Development

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Agency of Haryana enter into the functional domain of panchayats resulting in confusion, duplication of
efforts and shifting of responsibilities.
 Appear as ‘Government Agencies’ and politicization of PRIs: The responsibility to implement several
Central and State government developmental schemes and their dependence on tied grants curtail their
autonomy and convert them virtually into Government agencies. The political parties ruling at the state
is reluctant to give autonomy to PRIs and view them as their organizational arms resulting in frequent
interventions in their day-to-day functioning and politicization of appointments.
 Weak and inefficient DPCs: They are too weak and non-starters in many States. In States like Gujarat, the
DPC has not been constituted.

STEPS TAKEN BY GOVERNMENT FOR PRIS

 Improving political participation of women: Ministry of Women & Child Development is implementing a
project on “Capacity Building Programme for Elected Women Representatives (EWRs) of Panchayati
Raj”. It is working on developing EWRs as “change agents”, while improving their leadership qualities and
management skills for better implementation of various programmes of the Government.
 Panchayat Staffing rules: Centre is planning to release guidelines related to recruitment of non-elected
panchayat staffsoon. Earlier, Ministry of Panchayati Raj and Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) had
also issued a circular recommending at least a Panchayat Development Officer (PDO)/Secretary, a Technical
Assistant (TA) and an Accountantfor a Gram Panchayat or a cluster of Gram Panchayats with 5000 population.
Dedicated personnel would result in better utilization of funds, improved service delivery and improved
accountability through regular audit report, statements of account etc.
 Equipping them to handle increasing workload: For this, recently Sumit Bose committee has made
recommendations in its report titled “Performance Based Payments for Better Outcomes in Rural Development
(RD) Programmes”.
 Strengthening PRIs through Rajiv Gandhi Panchayat Sashaktikaran Abhiyan: It is a centrally sponsored
scheme which aims at making rural local bodies self-sustainable, financially stable and more efficient.
 For enhancing efficiency of PRIs: The government has launched Mission Antyodaya to optimize outcomes
and increasing the efficiency of Gram Panchayats through effective social capital, capacity building of PRIs,
promoting participatory planning and implementation of the schemes etc.

Sumit Bose Committee recommendations

 For human resource: Every panchayat should have a full-time secretary to perform both general
administration and development functions. The existing Gram Rozgar Sevaks should be formally trained to
carry out essential engineering functions, such as those related to water supply and sanitation.
 For social accountability: Holding Gram Sabha meetings regularly, ensuring that meeting notice reach the
people at least 7 days in advance, Participatory Planning and Budgeting, Pro-active Disclosures, Social Audit
of Panchayats etc.
 Greater usage of ICT: Panchayats should use only transaction-based software for maintaining database
related to local planning and monitoring progress; financial management including e-procurement;
estimation and management of work undertaken, electronic maintenance of cashbook etc.
 Monitoring performance: Standards should be developed for all assets being created through rural
development programmes. In addition, essential data should be compiled, including, area, population, staff,
and availability of essential infrastructure for panchayat office, among others.

PESA
Village level democracy became a real prospect for India in 1992 with the 73rd amendment to the Constitution,
which mandated that resources, responsibility and decision making be passed on from central government to
the lowest unit of the governance, the Gram Sabha or the Village Assembly. A three tier structure of local self
government was envisaged under this amendment.

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Since the laws do not automatically cover the scheduled areas, the PESA Act was in acted on 24 December 1996
to enable Tribal Self Rule in these areas. The Act extended the provisions of Panchayats to the tribal areas of
nine states that have Fifth Schedule Areas. Most of the North eastern states under Sixth Schedule Areas (where
autonomous councils exist) are not covered by PESA, as these states have their own Autonomous councils for
governance. The nine states with Fifth Schedule areas were:
 Andhra Pradesh
 Chhattisgarh
 Gujarat
 Himachal Pradesh
 Jharkhand
 Maharashtra
 Madhya Pradesh
 Orissa
 Rajasthan

Objectives of the PESA Act

The fundamental spirit of the Panchayat Extension Act for tribal areas under 5th Schedule is that it devolves
power and authority to Gram Sabha and Panchayats rather than delegation; hence it paves way for participatory
democracy.
The provision under constitution and the composition under this act call for every legislation on the Panchayat
in 5th Schedule area be in conformity with the customary law, social and religious practices and traditional
management practices of the community resources.
It also directs the state government to endow powers and authority to make Gram Sabha and Panchayats function
as Institutions of Local Self Governance, specifically on matters of enforcing prohibition of sale and consumption
of intoxicant; ownership of minor forest produce; power to prevent alienation of land and restoration of unlawfully
alienated land, management of village markets, control over money lending, etc.
PESA also empowered gram sabha of the Scheduled Areas to approve plans, programmes for social and economic
development, identify beneficiaries under poverty alleviation programmes, certify utilization of funds by gram
Panchayats, protect natural resources, including minor forest produce and be consulted prior to land acquisition.
PESA make sure that each tier of the Local Governance is independent and Panchayats at higher level should not
assume the powers and authority of any Panchayat at the lower level or of the Gram Sabha. Further, it also calls for
creating the appropriate levels of Panchayats similar to 6th Schedule area, where the Administrative boundaries
are Autonomous enough for self-rule.
All the states with scheduled areas within their geographical boundaries were mandated to amend their existing
Panchayati Raj acts incorporating provisions of PESA within a year, that is, by 24 December 1997.
Provisions under PESA include the following:
 Gram Sabha at the Para, Majra and Tola levels.
 Gram Sabha to protect the traditions, beliefs and culture of the tribal communities.
 Local disputes to be resolved by the Gram Sabha.
 Gram Sabha to manage and protect common properties based on their traditional systems of management
and protection.
 The administration to seek permission from the Gram Sabha in case of land acquisition.
 Gram Sabha to have the rights over minor forest produce; powers to restore land to the tribals and control
over money-lending to tribals, tribal welfare activities by social organizations and local plans and sub-plans
for the development of tribal areas and communities.
 Gram Sabha to have the control over local markets and melas.
 Gram Sabha to have rights to control the distillation, prohibition and manufacture of liquor.

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 District panchayats to have rights and powers similar to the district panchayats falling under Sixth
Schedule.
The Fifth Schedule suggests that the Governor and the Tribes Advisory Council (TAC) should protect/promote the
welfare and advancement of the Scheduled Tribes. It follows that the correct or harmonious interpretation of PESA
would be the recognition of the traditional tribal political institutions of self governance.
Such a conclusion also follows since the PESA must be read in conjunction with the Fifth Schedule, which deals
with the Scheduled Tribes of the Fifth Schedule Areas and given the fact that PESA has as its backdrop the
recommendations of the Bhuria Committee, which was instrumental in formulating the PESA.

Key Features of the Model PESA Rules

 The Gram Panchayat shall be deemed to be the Executive Committee of the Gram Sabha. The Secretary of
the Gram Panchayat will be deemed to be the Secretary of the Gram Sabha and the Gram Sabha will hold a
meeting at least once in two months.
 A person who is a member of a Scheduled Tribe will be selected as chairperson for the meeting of the Gram
Sabha for one year by consensus. In the case of non-consensus, amongst the members present, the oldest
lady from the Scheduled Tribes would be the chairperson.
 The quorum of the meeting of the Gram Sabha will be one fifth of the total members. There shall be a
separate quorum for women, which will be one third of the general quorum.
 The Gram Sabha may constitute Standing Committees viz. Peace Committee, Justice Committee, Resource
Planning and Management Committee, Intoxication Control Committee, Debt Control Committee, Market
Committee, Sabha Kosh Committee and others as deemed appropriate by the Gram Sabha in order to fulfil
its responsibilities regarding various aspects of the working of the village, whose members shall be elected
in an open meeting of the Gram Sabha among members of the Gram Sabha. Besides, temporary and ad-hoc
committees may be constituted as per requirement. The tenure of all the Standing Committees will be of
one or two years as decided by the Gram Sabha.
 If under any Act on any subject such as forest, irrigation management, etc., a body or committee is constituted
by any government department, the same will be treated as a Standing Committee of Gram Sabha on that
subject. Notwithstanding the provisions in the concerned Act, that body or committee will be accountable
to Gram Sabha.
 The Gram Sabha will maintain a Gram Sabha Kosh which will consist of the contribution received in any
form including voluntary contributions of cash and goods and the labour of villagers; amount received
through the government from minor forest produce, minor minerals etc; and surcharges imposed on the
consumption of the resources or fines levied by the Gram Sabha. The Gram Sabha will have the complete
right of its usage as per its own decisions.
 Process of dispute resolution by the Gram Sabha has also been listed out in the Model Rules.
 The Gram Sabha will ensure that resources are utilized in such a way that:
f Livelihood means are sustained.
f Inequality among the people does not increase.
f Resources are not confined to a few people.
 The Gram Sabha will ensure that no land belonging to Scheduled Tribes is transferred to non ST persons.
It shall be competent to enquire into any land transactions, or authorize the Peace Committee to do so, on
the basis of complaints or suo motto. If the Gram Sabha is of the opinion that attempts are being made to
alienate lands belonging to STs, it may issue instructions to prohibit the transaction and its decision in such
cases shall be final.
 Gram Sabha shall be mandatorily involved in all decision relating to land-acquisition; peace & security and
dispute resolution; management of natural resources; agriculture and land; mines and minerals; intoxication
control; minor forest produce; management of markets; money lending; identification of beneficiaries;
approval of plans; supervision and review of social sector schemes as well as local institutions such as
schools, hospitals, etc.

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 Gram Sabha is competent to maintain separate registers for the details of the
f Births
f Deaths
f Marriages
f Festivals
f Persons going outside the village to make livelihood.
 It will be mandatory for the Gram Panchayat to obtain a certification of utilization of all funds from the Gram
Sabha for works undertaken in its areas.
 If a Gram Sabha is of the opinion that any State Legislation is not in consonance with the customary law,
social and religious practices and traditional management practices of the community resources, it may
pass a resolution to that effect, and forward it to the State Government through the District Collector. The
State Government shall take necessary action on it.

Problems with PESA

 Dilution of role of Tribal Advisory Councils: PESA comes under the Fifth Schedule, which mandates Tribal
Advisory Councils to oversee tribal affairs and also gives extrajudicial, extra constitutional powers to the
Governors of each State to intervene in matters where they see tribal autonomy being compromised.
 However, the councils, with the Chief Minister as their chairperson, have evolved into a non-assertive
institution amid the machinations of upper-class politics, and its representatives hardly speak against the
State governments’ policies.
 The Governors, in order to have friendly relations with the Chief Ministers, have desisted from getting
involved in tribal matters. Tribal activists have constantly complained that there is not even a single
instance where the Governors have responded to their petitions for interventions in threatening crises, such
as deepening clashes over land, mining or police excesses.
 Lack of coordination at Centre: Even if one were to expect proactive intervention from the Centre, PESA
would get entangled in bureaucratic shackles. Two different ministries, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj and the
Ministry of Tribal Affairs, have an overlapping influence on the implementation of PESA and they function
almost without any coordination.
 Lack of operationalization: In most of the state the enabling rules are not in place more than eight years
after the adoption of the Act suggests that the state governments are reluctant to operationalize the PESA
mandate.
 Ignoring the spirit of PESA: The state legislations have omitted some of the fundamental principles without
which the spirit of PESA can never be realised. For instance, the premise in PESA that state legislations on
Panchayats shall be in consonance with customary laws and among other things traditional management
practices of community resources is ignored by most of the state laws.
 Ambiguous definitions: No legal definition of the terms like minor water bodies, minor minerals etc. exist
in the statute books. The states in their conformity legislations have also not defined the term leading to
ambiguity and scope of interpretation by the bureaucracy.
Inspire of the above provisions, PESA has failed to bring any major change in the socio-economic condition of the
tribals. Among the multiple reasons being attributed, the major one’s are as follows:
 Implementation of the law has been severely hampered by the reluctance of most State Governments
to make laws and rules that conform to the spirit of the PESA Act. Weak political will has allowed the
bureaucrats to continue to work as usual and PESA provisions have remained appealing on paper only.
Probably the most glaring act of bureaucratic subversion is about the concept of ownership of minor forest
produce (MFP). Forest officials have creative arguments to keep the tribal population away from the MFP
which has always been a major livelihood support for them. For example, officials argue that the power of
Gram Sabhas can extend only to the forest located within the revenue boundaries of a village. The ground
reality is that a reserved forest in generally not located within the revenue boundary of a village. The spirit
of the law is clearly to provide the usual access to MFP from forests located in vicinity of the village.

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 Another argument against giving ownership of MFPs to Gram Sabhas is that it would lead to destruction of
forests. Therefore, the ownership of MFP should mean the right to net revenues from MFP, after retaining
administrative expenses of the Forest Department. This is also contrary to a whole body of empirical
evidence from the national and international experience of JFM and community control of forests. Worldwide
administrators are recognizing that the forest dwellers are the most suited people to entrust the wellbeing
of the forests along with all their biodiversity. Such fanciful interpretations have almost killed the concept
of ownership and control of local resources by the Gram Sabha.
 When the Fifth Schedule provisions offer protection to tribal culture and their traditional way of living,
which is reaffirmed by various others laws including the PESA and Forest Rights Act, the idea is to allow
them freedom to manage their socio-cultural affairs on their own. Since their lifestyle is intrinsically centred
on land and surrounding natural resources, vital for their survival, it is clearly implied that they should be in
the position to assert control on land, forests, and natural resources.
 Ground reality however is strikingly different. It is a fact that the average size of the land holding by the
tribals has been shrinking due to the State led acquisitions and the ill-designs of powerful non-tribal land
mafia despite the fact that the sale of tribal lands to the non-tribals in the Scheduled areas is prohibited.
Post liberalization-cum-privatization alienation of tribal land has become more perceptible and attack of
natural resources of their regions has become rapacious.
If only Union and State Governments had honoured the Samara Judgment (Supreme Court, 1997), a model of
sustainable mining as well as “development” that was more respectful towards the tribal community would have
evolved and most of the unlawful displacements, conflicts and suffering would have been avoided. Forest Rights
Act (FRA) of 2006 was another recent legislative effort to enable tribals and other forest dwellers to assert rights
over the forest land they had traditionally dependent upon. It also provided for empowering Gram Sabhas in
asserting these rights, in line with PESA provisions. But again strong opposition of powerful vested interests and
forest bureaucrats has been putting endless hurdles in its implementation.

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