Former Chief Minister cum BJP National Vice President Raghubar Das today said that it was learned from today's newspapers that a petition has been filed in the High Court by the Tribal Intellectual Forum. “It has been complained that so far PESA rules have not been implemented in the State, whereas the reality is that the system applicable to non-scheduled areas has been continued for the Panchayats of the notified areas. Due to this the people residing in the notified areas of the state have been deprived of their rights. The provisions of the PESA Act are not being strictly followed by the present government,” he said.
Das said that the PESA Act was enacted by the Center in 1996. On the basis of the draft rules issued by the Central Government in the year 2016, during the tenure of the previous BJP government, the State Government also decided to give full powers to the Panchayats in the notified areas of the State as per the arrangement laid down in the Fifth and Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. The draft of the PESA manual was prepared in the year 2019. Action was being taken with the intention of delegating full powers to the traditional heads of Panchayats, Gram Sabhas, Village Heads, Manki, Munda etc. But, the rules could not be implemented due to the elections held in the state and the subsequent change in government.
“According to Article 243M of the Constitution of India, the provisions relating to Panchayats cannot be directly implemented in the notified areas of the State. If the PESA Act has been implemented by the Parliament, then the provisions of the Panchayat Act are to be implemented in these areas only after strict implementation of its provisions. It is clear from the provisions of the PESA Act that in respect of the villages of the notified areas of Jharkhand state, traditional village heads, Manki, Munda and institutions as per the provision have to be given full rights in relation to the whole scheme, minor minerals, sand ghats etc,” he added.
The senior BJP leader said that it is unfortunate that the JMM-Congress government, which talks about water, forest land, is doing injustice to the tribals of the State. There is a deliberate delay in the implementation of PESA rules. In fact, resources are being used by them to earn money through administrative and official systems. I demand on behalf of the population of the scheduled areas of the entire state that the state government should immediately implement the PESA rules and transfer full legal powers to the rural institutions and village panchayats at the earliest.