The Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, PESA, was passed by Parliament in:

The Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996, commonly called PESA, was passed by Parliament and came into force on 24 December 1996. 24 December is observed as PESA Day.

The 73rd Constitutional Amendment (1992), which gave constitutional status to Panchayati Raj, did not automatically apply to the Fifth Schedule Areas, which are tribal-majority areas in states such as Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Himachal Pradesh. Article 243M allowed Parliament to extend Part IX to these areas with suitable modifications. On the recommendations of the Dilip Singh Bhuria Committee (1994-95), Parliament passed PESA to extend the panchayat system to Scheduled Areas while protecting tribal customs and rights.

Main features of PESA:

The Gram Sabha (village assembly) is given a central role and special powers. It is empowered to safeguard and preserve the traditions and customs of the people, their cultural identity, community resources and customary methods of resolving disputes.

The Gram Sabha must be consulted before land is acquired for development projects and before resettling or rehabilitating affected people.

It must approve plans, programmes and projects for social and economic development, and identify beneficiaries for poverty alleviation schemes.

Panchayats and Gram Sabhas have ownership of minor forest produce, and powers over minor water bodies, the grant of mining leases for minor minerals, the sale of intoxicants, the prevention of land alienation, village markets and money-lending to tribals.

Seats for Scheduled Tribes must be reserved in proportion to their population, with at least half the total seats, and all chairpersons at all levels must be STs.

Ten states have Fifth Schedule areas. Many of them have framed PESA rules only recently, such as Chhattisgarh (2022), Madhya Pradesh (2022) and Jharkhand. The Forest Rights Act, 2006 further strengthened the role of Gram Sabhas in tribal areas.

Why not the other options?

• ✗1992 is the year of the 73rd and 74th Amendments.
• ✗1993 is when the 73rd Amendment came into force.
• ✗2006 is the year of the Forest Rights Act.