Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that decisions related to water, forests and land will now be taken from village chaupal and not from Bhopal. Chief Minister Chouhan said that the PESA Act in Madhya Pradesh is not against any non-tribal community. This is to further strengthen the tribals.
It has been implemented in 89 tribal dominated development blocks of the state. The PESA Act provides tribal brothers and sisters their rights of water, forest, land, labour and protection and promotion of local institutions, traditions and culture. The Chief Minister said that corruption will not be tolerated under any circumstances in the implementation of schemes and government works.
The CEO of Sendhwa janpad has been suspended over a similar complaint.
Chouhan was addressing the PESA Act Awareness Conference at village Chacharia Pati of Sendhwa block on Thursday. Chief Minister Chouhan said that today I have to come take a class on PESA Act and not to give a speech. In the development blocks where the PESA Act has been implemented, it is necessary for the people to be aware of its provisions and their rights. Gram Sabhas will be constituted to implement the provisions of the Act. All gram sabhas will be empowered. It should be the effort of all of us to make Gram Sabhas with social harmony.
The Chief Minister said that even the government will not be able to take land directly without the consent of the Gram Sabha. Those who fraudulently grab land and get it transferred in their name will not be spared. With PESA Act, now no one will be able to grab someone’s land by deceit, fraud and force. If any person does this, the Gram Sabha will also have the right to intervene and retrieve it. He said that the government will not be able to give lease of sand, clay, stone or any other quarry in the notified area without the permission of the Gram Sabha.
The Chief Minister said that now Gram Sabha will have the right to sell, pick and fix prices of secondary forest resources like pickle kernels, mahua flower, mahua gulli, harra, baheda, bamboo, amla, tendupatta etc. Gram Sabha can make a proposal for this and send it to the Forest Department by December 15. Chouhan said that the Gram Sabha will manage Amrit Sarovar and ponds. The Gram Sabha will give consent for growing singhada in ponds and fish farming and fisheries.
While giving information about the rights of labourers in the PESA Act, Chief Minister Chouhan said that now if the labourers of the village go to any other state or district for wages through a contractor or any other person, the Gram Sabha will have to be informed about the same. The Gram Sabha will have the information about labourers who have gone outside their area, so that if any of them have any problem, then the Gram Sabha can help them.
Chouhan said that a peace and dispute redressal committee will be constituted in every village. This committee will settle local minor disputes in the village itself, so that the villagers do not have to visit police stations unnecessarily. Chouhan said that the Gram Sabha itself will also decide which eligible person of the village should get the benefit of which scheme of the government. Gram Sabha will also have the right to monitor the systematic operation of schools, health centres, anganwadi centres, ashrams, hostels, etc.
Chouhan said that the gram sabha will decide whether to open new liquor shops in the village or not. If there is a liquor shop near hospital, school, religious place, then the Gram Sabha can recommend to close it or to shift it to another place. Gram Sabha can recommend to the collector to declare any day as dry day. Chouhan said that any private moneylender, person giving loan on interest will be able to give loan to the villagers only after obtaining a license and at the rate of interest fixed by the government.