Tribal Development and Welfare Through Panchayats : The Experience of PESA in Eastern Madhya Pradesh

Abstract

The Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996, which is popularly known as PESA, has been termed by many academicians and grassroots tribal organizations as progressive, revolutionary and historic law. This Act is the most important piece of legislation for the scheduled areas and it gives radical governance powers to the tribal community. The main rationale behind the Act is to protect the tribal community from exploitation with an active involvement of the gram sabha. Thus, it can be said that Gram Sabha of the Scheduled Areas has been made fundamental machinery for implementation of all the activities related to village development under the PESA, Act. This act again empowers the Gram Sabha to develop, manage and conserve the natural resources of their areas, such as water, forest and land.  Under the PESA Act, tribal communities have been able to play an important role in deciding their destiny. Overall, it can be said that PESA Act is a significant and revolutionary law for establishing democratic governance at the grassroots level in the areas of the tribal community that have been cut off from the mainstream of society for years and has been standing on the last ladder of social, economic and political development. Madhya Pradesh is a pioneer state which has first implemented PESA Act in 1997. More than 25 years have passed since this Act was implemented in Madhya Pradesh and five terms of Panchayats under this Act have also been completed. In addition to this, at present, the Government of Madhya Pradesh has also notified necessary rules for the implementation of the PESA Act. With the notification of these rules, it is expected that the whole process of development of the tribal community will be speeded up by the Gram Panchayats, and their traditional institutions of self-governance will be strengthened again. This paper explains the ground realities of the implementation of PESA Act in Eastern Madhya Pradesh. The main objectives of this study are to examine and analyze the grassroots realities of PESA, the effectiveness of PRIs in the scheduled areas of Madhya Pradesh not only in promoting tribal development and capacity building but also in fostering the cause of social justice and equitable growth. Apart from this, to identify the hurdles in the way of execution of the PESA Act and provides some suggestions for removing the hurdles. This study is based on both primary and secondary data collected for research projects sponsored by the Indian Council of Social Science Research, New Delhi.