PESA: A Milestone in Empowering Gram Sabhas in Scheduled Areas

India’s tribal communities – collectively known as Adivasis – have historically been at the margins of mainstream political and economic life. Centuries of displacement, land alienation, and administrative neglect meant that even after independence, democratic governance largely bypassed the regions they called home. The Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (PESA) was India’s legislative response to this exclusion. Enacted on 24 December 1996, it extended the framework of democratic self-governance to India’s Scheduled Areas – regions notified under the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution where tribal populations are predominant. Nearly three decades later, PESA remains one of the most consequential yet underimplemented laws in Indian governance.

The constitutional gap PESA was designed to fill 🔗

The 73rd Constitutional Amendment of 1992 was a landmark moment for decentralisation in India. It established a three-tier Panchayati Raj system across rural India and gave constitutional recognition to the Gram Sabha. However, Article 243(M) of the Constitution explicitly excluded Scheduled Areas from the purview of this amendment. This meant that the democratic structures being built across the rest of the country simply did not reach the tribal heartlands of states like Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, or Chhattisgarh.

The tribal communities in these regions had their own traditional governance systems – village councils that managed commons, resolved disputes, and regulated resource use in a manner that was non-hierarchical and community-driven. But colonial administration and post-independence governance structures had steadily eroded these systems. A statutory framework was needed – one that could integrate these traditional institutions into the constitutional scheme without dismantling them.

In 1994, the central government constituted a committee chaired by Dilip Singh Bhuria, a parliamentarian from Madhya Pradesh, to examine how Panchayati Raj structures could be extended to tribal and Scheduled Areas. Based on the Bhuria Committee’s 1995 recommendations, Parliament enacted PESA in 1996, giving constitutional weight to tribal self-rule for the first time.

What PESA actually does: the Gram Sabha at the centre 🔗

The most transformative aspect of PESA is the statutory status it grants to the Gram Sabha – placing it at the nucleus of governance in Scheduled Areas. While the 73rd Amendment had introduced the concept of the Gram Sabha, PESA gave it real, enforceable authority. Under PESA, the Gram Sabha is not merely a consultative body; it holds powers that higher-level panchayats cannot override or usurp.

As per the Act, every village in a Scheduled Area is required to constitute its own Gram Sabha, defined on the basis of local habitations and traditional practices. This Gram Sabha is then vested with the responsibility of safeguarding customs, protecting community resources, and employing traditional mechanisms for dispute resolution. PESA is sometimes described as a “Constitution within the Constitution” precisely because it carves out a self-governing space within the broader framework of Indian law.

Powers over natural resources 🔗

One of the most critical dimensions of PESA is the authority it vests in Gram Sabhas over natural resources. Under Section 4 of the Act, state legislatures are mandated to ensure that Gram Sabhas and Panchayats in Scheduled Areas are specifically endowed with the ownership of minor forest produce, the power to manage village markets, the authority to regulate money-lending to Scheduled Tribes, the power to prevent alienation of tribal land, and control over local plans including tribal sub-plans. These are not aspirational goals – they are statutory requirements that state governments are legally obligated to implement.

The Gram Sabha also holds the right to mandatory consultation before any land acquisition or rehabilitation of displaced persons in Scheduled Areas. This is a significant legal safeguard, particularly given the history of large-scale displacement of tribal communities due to mining, dam construction, and other development projects.

Protection of customs and cultural identity 🔗

PESA explicitly recognises that tribal communities operate under customary laws and traditional governance systems that predate the Indian state. The Act requires that any legislation or policy applied to Scheduled Areas must be consistent with these customs and traditions. Customary laws of tribals are expected to be incorporated into state frameworks – a requirement that, as we will see, most states have honoured only in part.

Safeguards against the concentration of power 🔗

PESA explicitly prohibits higher-level panchayats from assuming the powers of lower-level ones. The authority delegated to the Gram Sabha cannot be curtailed by a higher level, and the state legislature is limited to an advisory role in the functioning of Gram Sabhas and Panchayats in Scheduled Areas. This structural safeguard is designed to prevent the kind of elite capture that has historically undermined grassroots democracy.

The ten states where PESA applies 🔗

PESA applies to the ten states that have Fifth Schedule Areas: Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, and Rajasthan. Each of these states is required to enact conforming state legislation that aligns with PESA’s provisions. The Ministry of Panchayati Raj is primarily responsible for overseeing implementation at the national level, and as of recent years, eight of these ten states have framed PESA Rules, while Odisha and Jharkhand have created only draft rules.

Implementation: where the promise falters 🔗

The gap between PESA’s transformative vision and ground-level reality is stark. Despite decades having passed since the Act’s enactment, state governments have made very little progress in implementing it in letter and spirit. Experts have pointed to multiple, interrelated reasons for this failure.

Non-conformity of state laws 🔗

PESA requires all state Panchayati Raj Acts and related laws to be harmonised with its provisions. In practice, this has not happened comprehensively. Most state legislations have omitted fundamental principles of PESA – particularly the recognition of customary tribal laws. A critical structural flaw in many states is that they have devolved PESA-mandated powers to the Gram Panchayat rather than to the Gram Sabha, which directly violates Section 4(n) of the Act. Key provisions relating to land acquisition, prevention of land alienation, and mining of minor minerals remain unincorporated in several states’ legal frameworks.

Lack of awareness among tribal communities 🔗

A Planning Commission report noted that tribal communities often possess little awareness about the functioning of the Gram Sabha and the rights available to them under PESA. Gram Sabha meetings are frequently irregular, scantily attended, and dominated by Sarpanchs and other influential members rather than the broader community. When people don’t know what the law guarantees them, they cannot effectively demand those entitlements.

Bureaucratic resistance and political interference 🔗

Implementation in states like Jharkhand has been hindered by the absence of state-specific guidelines, weak governance mechanisms, elite capture, and resistance from state agencies – even nearly three decades after the law came into force. Social audits have revealed cases where development schemes were approved on paper by the Gram Sabha without any actual meeting being convened. Land acquisition has been carried out under other acts to bypass PESA’s consultation requirements, undermining the very protections the law was designed to create.

Conflicts with other laws 🔗

PESA sometimes conflicts with other central legislation such as the Forest Rights Act, the Land Acquisition Act, and the Wildlife Protection Act. This legal ambiguity has created confusion on the ground and has been exploited by those seeking to dilute tribal rights. The relevant central and state laws – covering areas like mines, forests, excise, and money-lending – still need to be amended to bring them into full conformity with PESA.

Inadequate institutional support 🔗

Most Gram Sabhas in Scheduled Areas suffer from poor information access, insufficient training, and a lack of enabling institutions. Local organisations in many areas are controlled by non-tribal members, further curtailing the decision-making authority of tribal communities – directly contradicting the core premise of PESA. There is also a complete absence of a functioning grievance redressal mechanism for routine violations of tribal rights.

Positive steps and the way forward 🔗

Not all the news is discouraging. States like Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh have made relatively greater progress in recognising Gram Sabha powers. In Chhattisgarh’s Sarguja district, Gram Sabhas have been empowered to manage and conserve forest resources, leading to successful afforestation projects and improved local livelihoods. Maharashtra’s Governor has issued notifications to bring state subject laws in line with PESA and to guarantee minor forest produce rights to Gram Sabhas. The Ministry of Panchayati Raj launched the PESA-Gram Panchayat Development Plan Portal in 2024, enabling hamlet- and village-wise resource planning in PESA Gram Panchayats, a step that could significantly improve accountability and targeted development.

The Ministry also celebrates December 24 annually as PESA Day, aimed at generating awareness and strengthening governance structures in Scheduled Areas. These are meaningful steps, but they remain insufficient without a fundamental commitment by states to harmonise their laws, train Gram Sabha members, and create robust mechanisms for community participation and grievance redressal.

PESA holds the legal architecture for genuine tribal self-determination. It recognises that Jal, Jungle aur Zameen – water, forests, and land – are not merely economic assets for tribal communities but the foundation of their cultural identity and way of life. Realising PESA’s objectives requires more than periodic conferences and portal launches. It demands that state governments treat the Gram Sabha not as a procedural formality, but as the rightful seat of decision-making in Scheduled Areas.

What do you think? Given that most states have yet to fully harmonise their laws with PESA’s provisions even after nearly three decades, where does the primary accountability lie – with the state governments, the Central government’s oversight mechanisms, or both? And if tribal communities themselves have low awareness of their rights under PESA, what would an effective, community-driven awareness strategy look like?

References

1. https://tribal.nic.in/actRules/PESA.pdf
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PESA_Act
3. https://india.mongabay.com/2021/03/pesa-the-wait-for-reforms-on-the-ground-continues-even-after-25-years/
4. https://www.impriindia.com/insights/panchayat-extension-scheduled-area-act/
5. https://www.nextias.com/blog/pesa-act-1996/
6. https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-news-analysis/panchayat-extension-to-scheduled-areas-pesa-act-1996
7. https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2207293&reg=3&lang=1
8. https://www.isca.me/IJSS/Archive/v4/i12/9.ISCA-IRJSS-2015-238.pdf
9. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09614524.2025.2524596
10. https://www.pmfias.com/pesa/