Ranchi, Jan 3 (PTI) The Jharkhand government has notified the rules under the Panchayat Extension of Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act, an official said on Saturday.
The PESA empowers tribal communities in scheduled areas to exercise self-governance.
According to the notification issued by the Panchayati Raj department on Friday night, the rules aim to restore and protect the rights of tribal communities over their land, water, forest resources, culture, and governance systems. They extend decentralised democracy to tribal communities by empowering tribal gram sabhas.
The notification mentions that the responsibility for the recognition and publication of traditional villages, gram sabhas, and their boundaries lies with the Deputy Commissioner (DC) of the respective districts. The DCs will constitute a team at the block level.
“Generally, each traditional gram sabha shall be equivalent to a revenue village. However, the villages, gram sabhas, and village boundaries falling under a traditional village may differ. Therefore, the team constituted by the Deputy Commissioner shall, in consultation with the head and members of the traditional gram sabha, identify the boundaries of the traditional gram sabha and document them,” it added.
The Jharkhand cabinet approved the rules on December 23 last year.
The PESA will be applicable in scheduled areas identified by the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution.
In Jharkhand, the rules will be implemented fully in 13 districts – Ranchi, Khunti, Lohardaga, Gumla, Simdega, Latehar, East Singhbhum, West Singhbhum, Seraikela-Kharswan, Dumka, Jamtara, Sahibganj and Pakur, and partially in three districts – Palamu, Godda and Garhwa, an official said.
The scheduled areas cover 16,022 villages and 2,074 panchayats, he added.
The notification mentions that pre-consent of gram sabha will be required on issues of land acquisition and rehabilitation.
Other provisions made in the rules include complete prohibition on child labour, and information about workers being taken outside must be provided to the gram sabha.
No manufacture, storage, or sale of liquor will be allowed without the consent of the gram sabha, it added.
The police have to inform the gram sabha regarding any arrest.
The gram sabha has also been given rights over ownership, collection, use, and marketing of minor forest produce.
The gram sabha has the right to monitor schools, anganwadis, health centres and PDS shops located in rural areas, it mentions.
Each gram sabha will be able to create its own “Gram Kosh (village fund),” which will consist of four parts – Gram Kosh, Grain Fund, Labour Fund, Goods Fund and Cash Fund.
Fee amounts and royalty obtained from minor forest produce, pond leases, market management fees, sand ghats, and other sources will be deposited into the fund.
The PESA Act, recognising the rights of tribal communities in Scheduled Areas, was enacted in 1996; but despite the creation of a separate state in 2000, it could not be implemented in Jharkhand in the absence of its rules.
The Congress, a constituent of the JMM-led alliance government, and the opposition BJP had been demanding implementation of the PESA rules in the state.
In July 2023, the Panchayat Raj Department released draft rules for PESA and invited responses from the public. The department also conducted workshops and discussions to get feedback on the draft rules in 2024. PTI SAN RG
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.