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(THE GIST OF PIB) Panchayats Extension to Scheduled Areas Act

[DECEMBER-2021]

The Union Minister of Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda and the Union Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Giriraj Singh jointly inaugurated the one-day National Conference on provisions of the Panchayats Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act 1996 (PESA) in New Delhi.

PESA seeks to protect the principle of Jal, Jungle , Jameen (Water, forest and land) for the tribals.
Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 or PESA is a law enacted by the Government of India to cover the “Scheduled areas”, which are not covered in the 73rd amendment or Panchayati Raj Act of the Indian Constitution.
It was enacted on 24 December 1996 to enable Gram Sabhas to self-govern their natural resources. It is an Act to provide for the extension of the provisions of Part IX of the Constitution relating to the Panchayats to the Scheduled Areas.
“Scheduled Areas” means the Scheduled Areas as referred to in Clause (1) of Article 244 of the Constitution. The Act extended the provisions of Panchayats to the tribal areas of states that have Fifth Schedule Areas.
A state legislation on panchayats in the scheduled area should take care of the customs, religious practices and traditional management practices of community resources
Every village shall contain a grama sabha whose members are included in the electoral list for the panchayats at village level
The recommendation of the gram sabha is mandatory for granting mining licenses in the scheduled areas
Planning and management of minor water bodies are entrusted to the panchayats