The salient feature of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (PESA) and the modalities worked out to grant rights to tribals in the country are:

(i)         Legislation on Panchayats shall be in conformity with the customary law, social and religious practices and traditional management practices of community resources;

(ii)       Habitation or a group of habitations or a hamlet or a group of hamlets comprising a community and managing its affairs in accordance with traditions and customs; and shall have a separate Gram Sabha.

(iii)      Every Gram Sabha to safeguard and preserve the traditions and customs of people, their cultural identity, community resources and the customary mode of dispute resolution.

(iv)     The Gram Sabhas have roles and responsibilities in approving all development works in the village, identify beneficiaries, issue certificates of utilization of funds; powers to control institutions and functionaries in all social sectors and local plans.

(v)       Gram Sabhas or Panchayats at appropriate level shall also have powers to manage minor water bodies; power of mandatory consultation in matters of land acquisition; resettlement and rehabilitation and prospecting licenses/mining leases for minor minerals; power to prevent alienation of land and restore alienated land; regulate and restrict sale/consumption of liquor; manage village markets, control money lending to STs; and ownership of minor forest produce.

             The provisions of Panchayats with certain modification and exceptions have been extended to the Schedule V areas viz. the ten States where the Panchayats exists in the country including Andhra Pradesh. A list of ten States has been annexed.

Gram Sabhas have been constituted in every State as per the Panchayat Raj Act/PESA Rules of the concerned State.  Only four States have framed their Rules for implementation of PESA. These are, Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.

This information was given today by the Minister in the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Shri Jual Oram in reply to written question in Lok Sabha.

                 SS: protection 08-08-2014 (lok)