Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Tuesday said the state government has enacted the Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act (PESA) to empower tribals in the state.
Baghel was addressing a function organised by Sarva Adivasi Samaj at Pt Deendayal Upadhyay Auditorium in Raipur to mark the World Indigenous Day.
He said the awareness about tribals would strengthen them.
Though PESA act was in existence in the state, the tribals were deprived of its benefits. Hence, the government passed the act in the Cabinet and notified it in the state gazette on August 8, the Chief Minister said.
The act has provisions to ensure 50 percent reservation of tribal members in gram sabhas of scheduled area. 25 percent of them have been reserved for women members.
To empower the tribals economically, the state had increased the number of forest produce to be purchased in support price, he said.