The PESA Act Explained

When Parliament gave constitutional status to panchayats in 1992, the new system was deliberately kept away from the country’s tribal heartlands. A few years later, in December 1996, Parliament passed a special law to bring self-rule to these regions on terms suited to tribal society. The PESA Act, formally the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996, makes the gram sabha, the assembly of all adult villagers, the centre of decision-making in Scheduled Areas.

The law is short, but its ambition is large. It recognises that tribal communities have their own customs, community resources and ways of resolving disputes, and it asks states to build panchayat institutions around these traditions. This explainer covers the background of the Act, its main provisions, the powers of the gram sabha over forest produce, land, minerals and disputes, and the long-standing gaps in implementation.

Quick Facts: The PESA Act

Why PESA Was Needed

The 73rd Constitutional Amendment of 1992 inserted Part IX into the Constitution, setting up a three-tier system of panchayats across rural India. However, Article 243M(1) excluded Scheduled Areas and tribal areas from its application. The reason was that these areas, notified under the Fifth and Sixth Schedules, have a distinct social and administrative character, and a uniform model borrowed from the plains might not suit them.

At the same time, Article 243M(4)(b) allowed Parliament to extend the provisions of Part IX to Scheduled Areas, with such exceptions and modifications as it specified. Tribal communities were among the groups most affected by displacement, loss of forests and exploitation by outsiders. Leaving them outside the panchayat system would have denied them even the limited self-government that the rest of the country had gained.

The Bhuria Committee

To resolve the question, a committee of Members of Parliament and experts was set up in 1994 under Dileep Singh Bhuria. Its report in 1995 proposed that the tribal village, not the revenue village, should be the basic unit, that the gram sabha should have wide powers over natural resources, and that customary law should be respected. Most of these ideas were included in the Act that Parliament passed the following year.

Scheduled Areas and the Fifth Schedule

PESA applies only in Scheduled Areas, which are areas declared by the President of India under the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution. They are found in states other than Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram, whose tribal areas fall under the Sixth Schedule. The declaration is made by a Presidential order after consultation with the state’s Governor, and it is based on factors such as a preponderance of tribal population, compactness of the area, a viable administrative unit and economic backwardness.

At present, ten states have Fifth Schedule areas: Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Rajasthan. In several of them, Scheduled Areas make up a substantial part of the state, and the Governor holds special responsibility for the welfare of the tribal population, assisted by a Tribes Advisory Council.

Why Fifth Schedule Areas Needed a Different Model

• Tribal society is often organised around clans, hamlets and customary headmen, not around revenue villages.
• Community ownership and customary rights over land, water and forests are common.
• Historical experience of land alienation to non-tribals and moneylenders created a need for protective laws.
• Traditional institutions, such as village councils and customary courts, already function in many areas.

Main Provisions of the Act

The Act has a very short text. Section 3 extends the provisions of Part IX to the Scheduled Areas, subject to the exceptions and modifications in Section 4. Section 4 then lays down the features that state legislation on panchayats must follow in Scheduled Areas. Section 5 gives states a transition period of one year from the commencement of the Act to amend their existing laws and bring them into line with PESA.

The central rule in Section 4 is that no state law on panchayats may be inconsistent with the customary law, social and religious practices and traditional management practices of community resources. The provision signals that in tribal areas, local tradition has precedence over a standard administrative template.

Summary of Section 4 Features

The Gram Sabha: Heart of the Law

The gram sabha is the foundation of PESA. Under the Act, every gram sabha is competent to safeguard and preserve the traditions and customs of the people, their cultural identity, community resources and the customary mode of dispute resolution. In practice, it means that the assembly of villagers has a legal role that goes beyond the advisory body described in the general panchayat law.

The gram sabha is required to approve the plans, programmes and projects for social and economic development before they are taken up for implementation by the panchayat at the village level. It is also responsible for identifying persons eligible for poverty alleviation and other schemes, and the panchayat must obtain from it a certificate of utilisation of funds spent on those plans.

Powers Over Local Institutions

The Act further provides that panchayats at the appropriate level, as institutions of self-government, are to be endowed with powers to control local plans, institutions and functionaries in social sectors such as health and education. They may also manage village markets and exercise control over money-lending to Scheduled Tribes.

Control of Minor Forest Produce

Minor forest produce, sometimes called non-timber forest produce, includes items such as tendu leaves, bamboo, mahua flowers, lac, resin, honey and medicinal plants. For millions of forest-dwelling households, collecting and selling these items is a principal source of cash income. PESA states that the ownership of minor forest produce is to be vested in the panchayats at the appropriate level.

The idea was to end the old pattern in which state forest departments or corporations held monopolies on trade in minor produce and paid collectors low prices. A gram sabha with the right to own and manage minor forest produce can decide when and how to collect it and who may buy it. In some states, tribal communities began to market bamboo and tendu leaves on their own after the law took effect.

Link With the Forest Rights Act

The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, complements PESA. It recognises individual and community forest rights and gives the gram sabha the authority to initiate the process of recognising these rights and to manage community forest resources. Together, the two laws form the legal base for tribal control of forests, although the question of which one governs particular issues has often been contested.

Land Acquisition and Prevention of Alienation

PESA requires that the gram sabha or the panchayats at the appropriate level be consulted before the acquisition of land in Scheduled Areas for development projects and before the resettlement or rehabilitation of persons affected by such projects. The wording of the Act speaks of consultation, not consent, which has been a point of debate for many years.

A stronger protection came with the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. Section 41 of that law requires the prior consent of the concerned gram sabha or panchayat in Scheduled Areas before land is acquired, and says that acquisition in these areas should be a last resort. PESA also empowers panchayats to prevent the alienation of land in Scheduled Areas and to take appropriate action to restore any unlawfully alienated land of a Scheduled Tribe.

Why the Wording Matters

• Consultation means that the views of the gram sabha must be heard, but they do not necessarily bind the authorities.
• Consent means that a project cannot go ahead on that land without approval.
• Prevention of alienation is a protective power that helps tribal families retain land against transfer to non-tribals.

Minor Minerals and Water Bodies

The Act also gives the gram sabha a say over mining of minor minerals, which are items such as building stone, ordinary sand, gravel and clay, as defined under the mining laws. The recommendations of the gram sabha or the panchayats at the appropriate level are mandatory before a prospecting licence or mining lease for minor minerals is granted. The same applies to the grant of concession for the exploitation of minor minerals by auction.

Planning and management of minor water bodies in Scheduled Areas are to be entrusted to the panchayats at the appropriate level. Village tanks, ponds and small irrigation sources are important for farming and fishing, and the law gives local communities authority to manage them.

The Samatha Judgment and Major Minerals

PESA deals explicitly with minor minerals, and the position on major minerals such as coal, iron ore and bauxite is governed by central mining laws. The Supreme Court, in the Samatha case of 1997, held that lands in Scheduled Areas could not be leased to private companies for mining, in order to protect tribal ownership. In 2013, the Court in the Niyamgiri case directed that the gram sabhas of the affected villages decide on matters relating to the religious and cultural rights of the Dongria Kondh community in the context of a bauxite mining proposal. These cases show how courts have given weight to the gram sabha’s role.

Customary Dispute Resolution and Social Control

Another distinctive feature is the recognition of the customary mode of dispute resolution. The gram sabha is competent to safeguard and preserve it, which means that village-level institutions such as traditional councils can continue to settle disputes about land, family matters and community offences, within the bounds of the Constitution.

The Act also gives panchayats the power to enforce prohibition or regulate and restrict the sale and consumption of any intoxicant. Excess consumption of liquor and the actions of outside liquor traders have long been concerns in tribal society, and this provision allowed communities to act. Further, panchayats have the power to exercise control over money-lending to Scheduled Tribes, a safeguard against exploitation through debt.

What Customary Law Does and Does Not Cover

• Customary methods can resolve many civil and community disputes at the village level.
• They must operate within constitutional rights, such as equality and the prohibition of discrimination.
• Serious criminal offences continue to fall under the ordinary criminal law and the courts.

How States Were Required to Implement PESA

PESA is a central law, but its operation depends on states, because panchayats are a state subject. Section 4 required state legislatures to make laws on panchayats for Scheduled Areas that conform to the Act’s features. In addition, state laws on subjects such as forests, excise, land revenue, mining and money-lending needed to be amended so that they would not conflict with the powers given to the gram sabha.

Under Section 5, existing laws that were inconsistent with the Act would continue until they were amended or repealed, or until the end of one year from the commencement of PESA. Most of the ten states amended their panchayat laws within or soon after that period, but many were slow to frame detailed rules and to amend related departmental laws. The Ministry of Panchayati Raj coordinates with states and has encouraged them to adopt rules that spell out the role of the gram sabha.

Steps Needed for Full Implementation

1. Amend the state panchayat law to align with Section 4.
2. Frame rules that define the village, the gram sabha and its procedures.
3. Amend sectoral laws on forests, minerals, excise, land and water.
4. Train gram sabha members and officials in their roles.
5. Ensure monitoring and a grievance mechanism.

Implementation Gaps and Challenges

More than two decades after the law was passed, studies and official reviews have repeatedly found that its implementation is uneven. Some states have framed rules, while others have not, and in several cases the rules dilute the powers that the Act intends for the gram sabha. The sectoral laws on mining, forests and land often contain provisions that override the gram sabha, or give it only an advisory role.

• Conformity gaps: State laws and rules do not always match the Act, and departments remain unaware of or reluctant to apply it.
• Weak gram sabhas: Low awareness, poor attendance and a shortage of facilitation reduce the effectiveness of the assembly.
• Bureaucratic control: Government officials sometimes decide matters without the gram sabha’s recommendation, or obtain approvals in a perfunctory way.
• Ambiguity: The Act uses terms such as “appropriate level” and “consultation” without precise definitions, which leaves room for varying interpretation.
• Overlap of laws: The interplay of PESA, the Forest Rights Act, mining laws and the land acquisition law is complicated.
• Conflicts over resources: Mining, dams and industrial projects in Scheduled Areas often create tensions between development goals and community rights.

Way Forward

Experts and committees have suggested several measures to give effect to the promise of PESA. They include a uniform set of model rules, clear definitions, a monitoring mechanism within the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, and legal provisions that make non-compliance by officials accountable. The role of the Governor, who has special responsibilities in Scheduled Areas, has also been highlighted.

Building the capacity of the gram sabha is as important as legal reform. Regular meetings, proper record-keeping, translation of documents into local languages and support from civil society and tribal welfare departments all help the assembly to function. Digital tools and public disclosure of project documents can also improve transparency. Ultimately, the success of PESA depends on whether the state and the village see the gram sabha as a decision-making body in its own right.

Conclusion

The PESA Act was a landmark effort to reconcile modern democratic institutions with tribal self-rule. By placing the gram sabha at the centre, recognising customary law and giving communities a say over minor forest produce, land, minor minerals and local institutions, it aims to deepen democracy at the grassroots in some of India’s most resource-rich and vulnerable regions.

Its limits are equally clear. Without complete state legislation, rules and administrative practice, many of its promises remain on paper. The Act remains a useful framework, and its full realisation is among the central tasks of tribal governance in India.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does PESA stand for?

PESA stands for the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996. It extends the provisions of Part IX of the Constitution, which deals with panchayats, to the Scheduled Areas notified under the Fifth Schedule, with certain exceptions and modifications designed for tribal communities.

Which states are covered by PESA?

PESA applies in the Fifth Schedule areas of ten states: Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Rajasthan. It does not apply to the tribal areas of the North East that are covered by the Sixth Schedule.

What powers does the gram sabha have under PESA?

The gram sabha can safeguard customs, community resources and customary dispute resolution. It approves development plans, identifies beneficiaries, and is consulted on land acquisition. Its recommendation is needed for minor mineral concessions, and panchayats are given ownership of minor forest produce.

Does PESA require the gram sabha’s consent for land acquisition?

PESA itself speaks of consultation with the gram sabha or the panchayats at the appropriate level before land is acquired. The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, goes further and requires the consent of the gram sabha in Scheduled Areas.

What was the Bhuria Committee?

The Bhuria Committee was a committee of Members of Parliament and experts, chaired by Dileep Singh Bhuria, that studied how the panchayat system should be extended to tribal areas. Its 1995 report shaped the content of PESA, especially the importance of the gram sabha and customary practices.

Why is PESA implementation considered weak?

Many states have been slow to frame rules or amend laws on forests, minerals, land and excise to match the Act. Gram sabhas are often poorly supported, and officials may bypass them. As a result, several of the powers that the Act promises remain only partly exercised.